


Lives Forgotten

by zhenyilani



Series: Lin Beifong Centric AU [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Linzin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-05-14 09:09:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 94,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14766707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zhenyilani/pseuds/zhenyilani
Summary: A photograph tells a thousand words. This one also contains a thousand secrets from an old life too many have people tried too hard to forget. Old wounds are torn open, old promises broken, and old memories resurface. Featuring Linzin a bunch of OCs.





	1. The Photograph

Tenzin was almost late for the ferry to head into the city for another day with the council advising Raiko when he realized he forgot his notes on the new policy in his study. "IKKI!" he called seeing his daughter dart between rooms down the hall. "Would you mind grabbing the manilla folder on the right side of my desk? I am almost late, and I already have my shoes on. Thanks, Sweetie!"

"On it, Daddy!" Ikki replied racing down the hall to her father's study. She spotted the folder immediately, but when she picked it up, something caught her eye. It was a black and white photo of a family. Or at least it looked like a family. It looked like there was a mommy and a daddy, and two boys and a girl standing in front of them and a toddler in the daddy's arms and a baby in the mommy's arms. Ikki glanced a bit closer at the photo long enough to recognize her dad holding the toddler, but not anyone else.

"IKKI!" Tenzin called.

"Coming!" Ikki yelled. She shoved the photo into her robes without a second thought and ran back down the hallway. "Here you go, Daddy!" she said handing him the folder.

"Thanks, Sweetie, I'll see you this evening. Don't forget to meditate with all of the other airbenders," Tenzin replied kissing her head, taking the folder.

"I won't!" Ikki said anxious for him to go so she could be free to examine the photo.

She watched him go down to the docks and waited until he was already on the ferry before going to find her sister who happened to be in a sitting room with Opal reading.

"JINORA!" Ikki screamed practically sprinting into the room.

"What now, Ikki?!" Jinora groaned with an air of annoyance.

"I need your help, Oh Master Airbender!" Ikki replied taking the photo out of her robes. "Do you know these people?"

"Well no duh, that's Dad and Aunt Lin-" Jinora said after barely glancing at it.

"Wait MY aunt Lin?" Opal asked nearly tossing her book aside to glide over beside Jinora.

"But her hair is so long!" Ikki said pointing at the woman in the photo with the baby.

"Wait! This doesn't make any sense!" Opal said squinting her eyes and looking more closely.

"But who are the kids?" Ikki asked.

"Oh Vaatu!" Opal cursed.

"I don't know," Jinora said with a furrowed brow.

"She's so pretty!" Ikki said pointing at the girl standing in front of her Dad and Aunt Lin.

The girl appeared to be about eight years old and clearly an earth and metalbender. Even with the photo being black and white with shades of grey, they could tell her clothing would have been green and black. She wore a meteorite bracelet on her skinny little arm and a shiny metal belt around her rail thin torso. Her arms were folded over her dark tunic just like Lin did so often nowadays and there was a smug little smile on her face as if she just won a race, broke some world record, or beat one of her brothers at sparring. Her black hair was tied up in a braid that reminded them so much of Ty Lee, the first chi blocker, and member of the Kyoshi Warriors to be from the fire nation.

The older boy was dressed similarly, but his shirt was shorter, and he carried two hammers chained to his shiny metal belt. He looked to be about nine years old and had short, uniform hair cut. He had two rings of metal bands on his upper arms and metal guards on his forearms. His smile was wide, but not as smug as his little sister. Maybe the curl at the edge of his lips could be interpreted as a smirk. The younger brother, standing in front of Lin seemed less energetic. He didn't carry any weapons, and his arms just hung limply by his side, but he too wore green and black clothing and metal on his forearms, but nowhere else indicating he was most likely also an earth bender.

The toddler and baby were both wrapped in much lighter colors. Air nomad colors? They couldn't tell.

"Is there anything on the back?" Opal asked taking the photo out of Jinora's fingers, turning it over.

"It is so faded!" Ikki exclaimed.

"There was probably writing on it at some point, but it is faded," Jinora said looking more closely, noticing some remnants of graphite powder and some indentations where the writing utensil pressed quite hard, most likely a long time ago.

"There's a number here!" Ikki said pointing at a spot in the bottom left quadrant of the paper. "9! And a name beside it. Kung- no Nung- no- Hung! That is an H! Hung-Jian! Hung-Jian 9!" Ikki said.

"That must be the boy with the hammers!" Opal exclaimed.

"The next one looks like... Hui-Fan 8" Ikki said squinting.

"I see it now. Then Jin-Kun, 6" Opal read.

"Jie-Xue 3"

"Xiao-yu 1!"

"And there's a line here and here!" Jinora exclaimed noticing the remnants of a line along the edge of the drawing and following it up and around the back of the photograph.

"It is a symbol of sorts!" Opal realized. It was the earth kingdom symbol with the three swirls of the air nomads inside of it. "But what does the symbol mean? Earth and Air?" Opal asked.

"Obviously! And dad and Lin WERE dating at the time by their ages and how long Lin's hair is in the photo," Jinora said flipping it back over.

"They looked so happy!" Ikki said with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"They DO look happy!" A fourth voice said behind them. The three girls jumped as Meelo hopped over Jinora's head landing in front of them, snatching the photo in the process.

"MEEELO!" They screamed all fighting to get the photo back, as Meelo dodged their efforts effortlessly, sliding across the room quickly with little bursts of air.

Finally, Jinora snatched it up.

"I think it is time for a trip to the BEIFONG ESTATE!" Meelo exclaimed with his fist in the air.

"Wait!" Jinora interrupted him. "What Beifong estate? Lin lives in a sparse, rather shabby apartment off Arbor street that overlooks Little Ba Sing Se shopping center. I go there once a week to a cup of tea and a new book. She always has the best books-"

"You see MY Aunt Lin more than me?" Opal asked with a bit of surprise.

Jinora shrugged.

"When did you start borrowing books from Aunt Lin?" Ikki asked.

"It is none of your business!" Jinora snapped.

"Meelo, what makes you believe this estate you know is connected to _my_ family?" Opal asked.

"Well it is a massive enclosed complex with a large wall around it, a nice house, with green shingles, and a massive garden with a walking path in the shape of a flying boar," Meelo described with his eyes closed and his hands on his hips and his chin up arrogantly.

"Where is it?" Jinora asked.

Meelo walked over to the couch and climbed onto it to point out the window and towards some hills just beyond the city.

"Up on that terrace on that mountain. It is tucked away." Meelo answered.

"When did you see it? How do you know this place even exists?" Ikki demanded.

"I was out doing a flying lesson with my troupe of ring-tailed lemurs!" Meelo explained simply, rolling his eyes. "You could have come with but..."

"What is going on in here? I heard an awful amount of yelling, is everything okay?" Pema asked appearing in the doorway.

"Everything's fine!" the children all exclaimed, Jinora hiding the photograph behind her back.

"Alright, well as long as you're having fun and not hurting each other, I am happy," Pema said approaching them to kiss each of her children on the head and hug Opal out of courtesy.

"Opal, you're welcome to join us in the main house for dinner. You know you don't have to keep dining with the other air benders," Pema offered.

"I don't mind it, actually. It gives Kai someone to talk to that isn't over the age of thirty five," Opal replied. "But thank you for the invitation." Opal smiled.

"Any time, Sweetie!" Pema said. "I'm going to go put Rohan down for a nap. Okay nicely!"

"Yes, Mom!" the airbender children minus Opal called.

As soon as Pema was gone, Ikki grabbed Meelo by his collar. "Take us to this estate!"

"YES SIR!" Meelo said saluting his sister before marching out of the room to go get his gliders.


	2. The Beifong Estate

It only took six minutes to fly over the city in a diamond formation with Meelo leading the way into the mountains. It was covered well from the trees with plenty of flora hiding it from below without obstructing the view from the estate of the city. The wall was a nice clay color with green shingles. There was a large gate facing what appeared to be the south facing driveway. The main house stood about a third the way in from the main gate, and the back two thirds of the property was occupied by an expansive garden with a combination of a walking path and a little creek in the shape of a flying boar. It's eyes were marked with koi ponds. There was no mistaking the crest of the Beifong Family.

As Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, and Opal circled back around to get a second look, they had to break formation as a metal net came flying towards them from one of the guard houses on the wall.

"They're trying to shoot us out of the sky!" Jinora yelled as a flurry of cables flew up through the air after them. They flew faster. After the cables missed, a wave of metal strips came towards them. They flew up out of range as the strips of metal plummeted back towards the earth below. They began flying back towards the city just as Meelo's glider got sliced, causing him to fall out of the sky screaming.

"Meelo!" Jinora screamed turning back only to be greeted by more metal strips, this time not from the battlements, but from a metalbender standing on the roof of the main house beside a girl dressed in air nomad colors. Opal dove in front of Jinora closing her glider to bat the metal strips away with an air swipe before diving to grab Meelo. As they came up again. The metalbender watched them. She pushed both arms forward slicing Jinora and Opal's gliders. They let go to free their hands to blast air downwards to slow their fall.

"Ikki! Go get help!" Jinora yelled towards the sky from the ground as metalbending guards surrounded them.

Ikki nodded and flew higher but the young woman flung a metal strip at Ikki, grabbing her ankle and yanking her down as she screamed and lost the glider. The last, in-tact glider. The girl beside the metalbender on the roof seemed to be able to just pull Ikki's glider out of the air before disappearing from the roof.

The four found themselves with their wrists and ankles cuffed together in metal and their torsos all tied to the pillars of a low-rising stone wall in the ornate garden as the young, metalbending woman emerged from the house with the girl carrying Ikki's glider.

"Who are you and why are you flying over our house?" the metalbender demanded. Her emerald green eyes narrowed with suspicion. Her hair was tied back in a bun with two braids emerging from it. There was a meteor bracelet on her left bicep. and corners on her forearm bindings similar to what Suyin wore in Zaofu. This girl had a shiny silver belt with the flying boar on the buckle, and had a spool of cable on each hip. She wore a green tunic over black shirt, and dark green pants with a slightly lighter green split skirt and dark brown leather shoes with retractable metal soles and metal bands holding the leather up just below her knees. "And don't even try lying, I can feel the most subtle of changes in ones heartbeat when he lies," the metalbender added looking straight at Meelo.

"We're sorry for trespassing!" Meelo sighed looking down.

"We were just looking for Chief Lin Beifong," Opal explained.

"What made you think she would be here?" the metalbender asked.

"Well the garden has a flying boar in it and..."

"It is a week day between the hours of seven am and seven pm. She's at work. Everyone in the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom knows that," the metalbender snapped at Opal.

"She's my aunt and we need her help with something!" Opal yelled.

The metalbender turned and glanced at the girl beside her who nodded.

"You can tell me what you need from her, and I will tell her when she gets home," the metalbender said.

"So she DOES live here!" Meelo exclaimed. The metalbender sighed with frustration.

"You never answered my first question. What are your names?" the metalbender said getting visibly impatient. The girl beside her looked much more calm and level-headed.

"I am Jinora and this is my sister Ikki and my brother, Meelo, and this is Opal Beifong, daughter of Suyin and Baatar of Zaofu," Jinora answered speaking almost as quickly as Ikki. "Opal is living with us and training on our island since our dad is the only airbending master in the world."

"Well, teeeeechnically you're an airbending master too," Meelo corrected her.

"But I am only fourteen and don't feel comfortable teaching everything," Jinora replied.

"What is YOUR name?" Ikki asked the metalbender.

The metalbender turned to the girl with two yellow buns on her head like ears of a pandahippo. "My name is not important and you are in no position to ask questions. Tell me what you want me to ask my mother, and we will let you leave. Continuing to stall and waste mine and my sister's time will result in overnight imprisonment at the police station and a formal charge of trespassing for each of you," the metalbender said.

The airbenders glanced at each other. Mother?

"Just show her!" Ikki said to Jinora.

Jinora looked behind her and wiggled her fingers. The metal bender looked away impatiently and released the master airbender's arms with a flick of the wrist, recalling the metal cuff. Jinora fumbled through her robes and produced the photograph. "We were wondering if... your mother, Chief Beifong, could help us identify the people in this photograph," Jinora said truthfully, handing over the photograph nervoursly.

The metalbender's confident and somewhat menacing posture changed dramatically. Her eyes narrowed even more with either hate or pain as she recognized the people in the photograph immediately. Jinora couldn't tell.

She turned to the girl next to her who held Ikki's staff.

"Have Luong prepare a car and then bring Captain Peng here," she ordered.

"Right away," the girl said dutifully as she handed the metalbender Ikki's staff and ran off. Within seconds, the metalbending captain of the guard appeared.

"Captain, will you please get these four off the property as soon as possible?" She asked.

"Where would you like me to take them?"

"You will take them to the docks in Republic City, board a ferry to Air Temple Island and don't leave them until they are back on the island and in the custody of either Councilman Tenzin or the Air Acolyte Pema. Make sure nobody harm comes to any of them along the way," the metalbender ordered the guard before turning on her heel to head back towards the house.

"But wait! Our photograph!" Jinora said running after her, easily passing the guard with her airbending and her arms and legs free. Jinora almost reached the photograph in the metalbender's right hand before the metalbender turned and lifted her left hand above her head. A metal strip encircled one of Jinora's wrists, lifting her into the air as Ikki, Meelo, and Opal gasped.

"This," she replied turning holding the photograph up. "This was NEVER yours to see, and will never be yours to keep!" She said on the verge of tears before tossing Jinora back towards Opal, Ikki, and Meelo and breaking into a run back to her house. She seemed so angry, so hurt as she fought back tears that threatened to fall down her previously perfectly composed and confident face.

The metalbending Captain, Peng, cuffed Jinora's wrists and ankles again and levitated her, her siblings and Opal and levitated them, dragging them through the air by their metal cuffs. He walked them around the house to the front where a brand new Sato Mobile was waiting with the doors open and a valet nearby holding the keys.

"Thank you, Luong," Peng said taking the keys as they both bowed to each other. Peng placed Opal gently in the front seat of the car beside him and the three children in the back seat before closing their doors and climbing into the driver's seat. "She said to the docks, right kids? You home is on Air Temple Island?" Peng asked adjusting the mirrors of the fancy car.

"No, you have to drive us all the way to Ba Sing Se first and then to Omashu to ride the mail system, and then to Zaofu to see Opal's mom and THEN to Air Temple Island!" Ikki replied rapidly and sarcastically. Peng simply chuckled as he turned the key and started the engine.

"Excuse me, Captain, who is the metalbending girl that interrogated us?" Opal asked politely.

"She is the eldest daughter of the Lady Beifong," Peng replied pulling out of the courtyard in front of the house, and driving through a pair of large cherry wood gates with the flying boar carved into both sides of it.

"I didn't even know Chief Beifong had children," Jinora said in disbelief.

"What is her name?" Ikki asked.

"Hui-Fan. It is a very fitting name. Hui-Fan is a very clever and intelligent girl. She is incredibly strong and accurate, lethal when fighting. I've only sparred with her twice, when she was ten years old, and barely lasted a minute!" Peng chuckled again with a warm smile.

Opal looked at the others in the back seat. Hui-Fan was written on the back of the photograph beside the number 8.

"Um, Captain Peng, do you know who her father is?"

"We're not supposed to tell outsiders, thaaat. Sorry kids."

"But Captain, if she is Chief Beifong's daughter, then she is my cousin! Don't I deserve to know?" Opal asked.

"Sorry kid, can't tell." Peng said. "Can't betray the misses."

They drove the rest of the way in silence, parked the car by the docks, then boarded the ferry. "What happened?" Kya and Pema asked running down to the docks, Rohan in Pema's arms.

"Is one of you the Air Acolyte Pema?" Peng asked.

"I am she," Pema said shifting Rohan in her arms. "They were caught trespassing over private airspace, Ma'am. But don't worry. We will not press charges this time since they did no harm, nor foul. But please, make sure it doesn't happen again. Here are their staffs." Peng said handing Kya the four gliders.

Pema and Kya just stared open mouthed at the metalbending guard as he told them what happened. He finished and saluted. As he lowered his hand, the metal flew off of the children's wrists and ankles and onto the cuffs of his forearms. "Good day ladies, children," he bowed and headed back towards the ferry. As he turned, they could see the golden seal of the flying boar stamped onto the shoulder of his armor.

"Okay?" Pema said watching him go with apprehension before turning to her children and Opal.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO THIS AFTERNOON?! AND WHY DID THEY FEEL THE NEED TO SEND YOU HOME IN CHAINS?!" Kya screamed while Pema just looked at them with confusion. She looked as she may explode with the confusion and a building stress, yet could never bring herself to yell at her children in any condescending way.

"We weren't actually trespassing. Just on a scenic flight around Republic City and, well, the owner of the house didn't like our flying. Thought we were snooping out a place to rob or something but when she saw we were just kids, let us go!" Opal explained.

"Letting you go is not the same as sending you with an escort to make sure you get home," Kya clarified for the kids.

"Your father is definitely going to hear about this," Pema informed them. "And all four of you are grounded until further notice. No gliders or bisons or lemurs for a week!"

"Awwww!" the children groaned as they headed up to the house.


	3. Promises

Tenzin didn't return from the day of council meetings until late. The children hoped they would miss out on the lecture by trying to go to sleep early, but Pema dragged them out of their living rooms and went to fetch Opal from the girls' dormitories on the island.

"I will let you deal with them," Pema said heading off to the master bedroom of the main house on the island.

"So where exactly did you go?" Tenzin asked.

"Well, we kind of went to the Beifong Estate in Republic City," Opal confessed.

"Why?" Tenzin asked sitting down.

"We were curious," Jinora replied.

"Daddy, when I went to get your folder this morning, I saw a photograph on your desk underneath it and wanted to know who was in it, so I kind of... took it." Ikki confessed with her head hanging in shame and her eyes fixed on a frayed part of the carpet beneath her feet.

"Ikki," Tenzin began to say before the front door was thrown clean off of its hinges and onto the floor with a heavy thud revealing the Chief of Police on their door step.

"Forgive me children, I need to speak to your father," Lin growled.

"I think the metalbender told her mother," Meelo whispered.

"No shit, Meelo!" Ikki replied.

"What did you do?" Tenzin asked slouching his shoulders in despair.

"Tenzin, quit this groveling; she didn't murder your children. You should be grateful. Now get up before I make you!" Lin ordered. Tenzin stood up meekly and followed her into the night.

* * *

"I gave you sixteen years to destroy all evidence of whatever it was that we had. Sixteen years! I destroyed everything we had on this island and kept silent as you asked, and you couldn't even burn a few photographs? I held up my end of the deal. The least you could do is hold up yours!" Lin yelled at him as they walked along a private beach below a rather high cliff where a house used to stand.

"Lin, how could I possibly burn everything and pretend none of it ever happened?! How can I pretend they don't exist.

"Because that is what you wanted us to do about you! We did everything for you and you still cast us out! You still let the White Lotus control you! The least you could do is eliminate all possibility of those memories resurfacing, if not for you, then for Pema and her children!" Lin replied shoving him into the sand as tears stung her eyes. "She cried tonight. She was crying when I came home, for the first time in THIRTEEN YEARS, and I couldn't console her, Tenzin!" Lin screamed at him knowing the waves and the surf would drown out their voices for whomever stood above trying to listen, if anyone.

Tenzin sat in the sand in silence for a moment before changing. "You're putting all the blame on me for making her cry? You're just like your sister! If you just started having children sooner, the White Lotus wouldn't have ever been all over our asses about anything! We'd be together and your children wouldn't be so messed up?"

"You're joking right? I'm sorry, I wouldn't be your air bender incubator when I was twenty! I am sorry for being a human being with my own desires and needs! I am sorry for not being an empty-headed little air acolyte with no home, no possessions, no job or hobbies and nothing better to do than fuck and be fucked! You had NO RIGHT to keep those photos after you PROMISED to get rid of them."

"Lin!" Tenzin yelled reaching for her hand, but quickly recoiled his arm as her fingers curled into a fist, deploying the blade that was stored in the sleeve of her police armor.

"This is what is going to happen. You are going to march your ass back into that house, and clean out whatever other keepsakes you're hoarding from that time long ago, or else I'll have Izumi come and burn the ENTIRE HOUSE down since burying memories isn't enough!" Lin yelled.

"Lin- please don't do this!" Tenzin begged.

"I will not allow you to hurt my daughter or any one of yours any more than you have already done! It is my duty to protect them from pain from the past, present or future. You're the one who made me swear to it when I gained full custody of them!"

"Lin!" He yelled even louder. She stomped his foot launching him up into the air at an angle so he would land on the cliff above the private little beach, away from her.

"What was that all about? What happened? The kids say Lin came and broke the door down," Pema asked dropping by Tenzin's side.

"She's just, upset about something," Tenzin replied as she helped him back into the house.

"Come to bed," Pema said.

"I just remembered I had some work left to do before tomorrow," Tenzin replied. "I'll be in my office a little while longer."

Pema sighed. "Alright, but at least try to get some rest."

"I will. Thank you, Pema."

* * *

"Daddy, are you okay?" Jinora asked coming into Tenzin's office later that night.

"Jinora, you should be in bed!" Tenzin scolded her. "Opal and I followed and we heard you talking to Lin on the beach," Jinora explained. "Neither of us could sleep. I just wanted to ask, what happened between you two all those years ago?"

Lin never wanted to hurt his children with Pema, so she stayed away. She didn't want them to accidentally stumble across anything that would, raise questions.

"It is none of your business, Jinora. It all happened a long time ago, and we've both moved passed it!" Tenzin replied quckly.

"I don't think you have, Dad. The fact that Aunt Lin is so angry, and the metalbender girl, XuChin?"

"Hui-Fan,"

"The fact that Hui-Fan cried for the first time in thirteen years because she saw the photo we brought her. That means something," Jinora insisted.

"Ikki had no right to take anything other than the folder off my desk!" Tenzin exclaimed angrily.

"But Dad, if you have moved on from whatever it was that you guys had, then why was the photo even on the desk? I know you Dad, and you don't keep anything on your desk unless you need it within the day, or need it every day." Jinora asked placing her tiny hand on his rather large wrist.

Curse this wise child! Tenzin growled internally. He closed his eyes. _Because I do need it every day. I need them. I can only hope they are safe, happy, healthy, breathing..._

"You feel bad about what happened," Jinora said. It wasn't a question.

Tenzin nodded.

"I am so sorry, Jinora."

"For what? You've done nothing wrong," Jinora replied.

"I've done everything wrong! I never wanted to hurt you or your mother, so I never told you about your half siblings."

"Why did you keep them a secret and pretend they didn't exist?"

"Because it hurt to let them go. I feared if I ever visited them, I would never want to leave them, and I had to give my undivided attention to Pema,"

"Why?"

"Because I was the last airbender. My father died and still, Lin and I, we had three earthbenders, and two babies too young to bend. The White Lotus kept pressuring me. They and I, we were worried that Lin wouldn't or couldn't have airbenders. We didn't know what would happen for my nation, my race if we didn't make changes soon. They didn't want to wait much longer. They figured the less the children remembered of me and Air Temple Island, the better off they'd be. The less they'd miss." Tenzin explained with grief.

"Daddy, I think at least one of Aunt Lin's children are air benders. When we were there today, the girl beside HuiFan, she wore air nomad colors and she pulled Ikki's glider right out of the sky like an airbender," Jinora said.

Tenzin's eyes perked up a little. "How old was she?"

"I don't know. Late teens? Maybe Opal's age?"

"Jiexue, probably," he said burying his head in his hands, balling.

Jinora handed him a tissue, and he blew then opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a dark army green tin box that had that same symbol of earth and air scratched into the top. He opened it revealing dozens of never-before-seen photos. The children were same as that family photo, but younger. He sifted through it and pulled out five baby pictures.

"Hung-Juan. He weighed eight pounds. Grandma Katara said he gave off a lot of energy and Toph said he had a strong heartbeat. Then HuiFan. Grandma Katara said she would be weak because she was born a month early weighing only four pounds and two ounces but Toph protested declaring the girl would take her place as the greatest earthbender in the world some day because her heart was so strong and stubborn, refusing to die even when she caught a fever shortly after being born.

"Then we had JinKun who was perfectly average. We thought he would be a non-bender like Bumi. Turns out he was just afraid of his bending after watching Lin train six year old HuiFan already with metal and already intensely. She became much more gentle after his little five-year-old confession. She let him explore on his own. He used his earthbending to extract different colored clays from the cliffs and beaches and caves to dye his hair. He made little sculptures and tools and crafted various machines and the like. He was like an airbender trapped in an earthbender's body. He would never harm even the smallest spider fly.

"Then Jiexue. She was very energetic almost like Ikki, but definitely more calculating and reserved. She liked to prank us and often roped her little sister into everything as soon as Xiaoyu could walk. But I didn't get to know either of them very well at all as they were only three and one and a half when we split." Tenzin explained. He looked over at Jinora wearily with the pictures in his hands.

She had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry-" Tenzin began to apologize again.

"No. I'm not mad at you. I feel sorry for you, and them! You had the weight of the world on your shoulders and did what you thought was best. You didn't know harmonic convergence would happen and more airbenders would come out of everywhere but it did. I think you should go to them, at least to say what's been on your mind."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the estate guards had a kill order for me. Knowing how Lin protects her city, I can only imagine how she protects our children."

Jinora laughed. "I don't think they would hurt you. I think they still love you, Daddy. I know Lin does. She wouldn't have come all this way to lecture you if she didn't care."

"She doesn't love me. She just loves HuiFan whom I hurt so badly so long ago," Tenzin replied.

"Daddy, if she didn't love you, then why did she give up her bending for US? Yours and Pema's children?" Jinora asked. "And Daddy, if Aunt Lin was still able to reconcile with her sister after thirty years of silence, I think you can with your daughter after sixteen."

"It's not that easy," Tenzin replied.

"Please at least try, Daddy! Also, I really think that other girl, Jiexue is an airbender, AND she's family and I'd love for her to come train with us!" Jinora added positively.

"Alright, I'll think about it," Tenzin sighed.

"Yay!"

"Now go to bed before your mother comes and finds you've been talking to me!" Tenzin ordered. Jinora hugged him and kissed him on the cheek before running off to bed.


	4. Hurting

Father,

I am sorry. I am sorry that I was not born an airbender. I am sorry that I couldn't hold your marriage together. I'm sorry that I will remain forever tied down to this wretched earth. I am sorry that we don't speak. I am sorry for frightening the children you had with that Air Acolyte Lady. I hope I didn't hurt the little arrowhead's wrists in my fury. I'm sorry for destroying their gliders with my metalbending. I shouldn't be angry at you. I should be proud of you. I understand the world is bigger than our family would ever be. I should congratulate you and thank you for all you have done, for the city, and for the Air Nomads. I want to congratulate you on being able to rebuild your nation. I just wish we could be a part of it instead of on the fringe, watching...

* * *

Hui Fan scratched out the last line then crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it blindly in the direction of the massive fire place in her luxurious bedroom. Then she took the pen that she was about to use to draft another letter, and threw that into the stone beside the blaze with enough raw power to lodge it into the grey brick without her bending. She ran her fingers through her washed hair that hung loosely down over her shoulders and back and leaned her head on the desk and cried.

"My love, just breathe," Lin said enveloping her eldest daughter in a hug for a moment before carrying her from the desk up a few steps to a large four poster bed fit for a Fire Nation Princess, but covered in gold and green. Lin lied down beside her daughter and tucked her long hair behind her ear and stroke her head.

HuiFan rolled over and took a framed photo off her bedside table. It was the one she had taken from Jinora.

"How could he hate us so much to keep this around?" HuiFan asked.

"I don't think it was out of hate that he kept the photo. I think he missed us greatly. I know Tenzin. There is nothing on his desk that he doesn't need immediately, or use every day. He must have just looked at the photo often enough to not feel a need to put it away," Lin replied as calmly as she could in an attempt to lessen her daughter's pain.

Tears formed in the young woman's face as she examined the figures in the photo. "I still can't believe how happy we were. And you were pregnant, and then everything just- ended," HuiFan said sadly.

"I know, it was hard. I know it is hard, but life goes on," Lin replied holding the young woman until she fell asleep.

Before she left, she stopped to pick up the crumpled letter that HuiFan threw at the massive fire, and replace the pen in the stone, back on her daughter's desk.

* * *

The next day, Lin returned to Air Temple Island, wearing her police uniform looking as authoritative and composed as ever. One would never believe the woman was even capable of shedding a tear let alone screaming and crying as Jinora and Opal saw on the beach the previous night.

"Lin," Tenzin began to say, intercepting her as she marched towards the main house. She merely shoved him and erected a rock wall between them and continued into the main house.

"Lin, you're back!" Pema said nervously spotting her from the kitchen.

"Forgive me, Pema, I have some unfinished business to attend to," Lin growled marching straight into Tenzin's office.

The desk was cleared safe for five photos of Lin each with a different baby nestled in her arms. The photos were around a rather blank piece of paper on which Tenzin wrote "Please, I am sorry, may I see them again? Forgive me." Lin's hand flew to her mouth and she started shaking, feet frozen in place.

"What's wrong?" Pema asked coming back. She looked at the photos and turned to Tenzin.

"When we broke up, Lin took our children,"

"Because the world is bigger and more important than our family ever would be. Tenzin how cold you pull off a stunt like this and not even tell your WIFE?!" Lin yelled at him. she turned to Pema. "Honestly, neither of us ever wanted to hurt you or your children. We didn't want to cause you any discomfort with our presence and we knew Tenzin needed airbenders, and you were more than willing to oblige, so I took my children and left. I tried to explain it to them. I tried to protect them from pain, and I almost succeeded... until Tenzin carelessly left one of our old photographs lying around for your children to discover and bring to my home." Lin explained.

"You have five other children!" Pema asked Tenzin quietly.

Lin crouched down on the ground in Tenzin's study and folded her arms across her body looking incredibly vulnerable even in her chief of police uniform as she remembered all of the pain she went through to bear him six children.

"What?" Tenzin rubbed his arrow with frustration.

Lin felt miserable. She had gone through so much pain to give him those six children, and for what? To end up raising them on her own. It was Jinora who fell by Lin's side and hugged her. "I told him to try to maybe contact them. I thought one of them may be an airbender since she pulled Ikki's glider out of the air like it were metal and she were a magnet." Jinora explained. "I didn't think he would go about it with some presentation."

Lin smiled and put a hand on the back of Jinora's head with thanks. "You're right. She is an airbender. Three of them are airbenders." Lin said to Jinora before looking back at the ground, wishing it would just swallow her whole.

"Three? But Hungjian, Huifan, Jinkun-" Tenzin stuttered.

"Apparently, I was one month pregnant when we moved. HuiFan noticed the extra heartbeat but I couldn't because I was too emotionally distracted by everything else at the time," Lin explained.

"Why didn't she say anything?!" Tenzin yelled angrily.

"She told me she thought it would be a waste of breath. After pleading so much with me, pleading the White Lotus, pleading YOU to change your mind, she convinced herself her words didn't matter anymore. Whatever she said wouldn't change anything. Her words would fall on deaf ears. She didn't speak to any adult for the first year we lived in the current estate. She felt worthless and unwanted. She stopped bending. Apparently one night, a White Lotus member told her, an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD, that the world 'didn't need anymore earthbenders. The world needed airbenders'. She refused to touch metal or rock and opted to stay on either a carpet or a couch any time she wasn't sleeping. The only way I could get her to bend again was to remind her that she did indeed have a purpose: to protect her family while I was at work. Only then, did she resume training."

"Then why didn't she hurt us?" Opal asked curiously, standing slightly behind Tenzin.

"Because she knows Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo belong to Tenzin, and she knows you belong to Suyin. Her duty is to protect family, and you all are family." Lin finally stood again. Tenzin wanted to go with her but didn't know what to do with his wife and his ex-girlfriend in the same room, both livid with him.

"I had no idea how much you feared for them," Pema began to say.

"Of course you wouldn't. You grew up here, as an air acolyte spoon fed peace and freedom from obligation, pain, and suffering. You don't know the city. You don't know the world," Lin replied aggressively. Jinora wrapped her arms around Lin's waist even tighter in an effort to calm her down, remind her that children were present.

"Lin," Tenzin began. Lin opened the pack on her belt and pulled out a folded piece of paper that looked like it had been wrinkled and smoothed out again.

"HuiFan threw this into the fire last night, and missed. Before all this, her accuracy was even greater than Fire Lady Mai. And the fireplace in her room is eight feet high with the blaze extending beyond the top of the mantle. I picked it up after she went to sleep." Lin said handing the paper over to Tenzin.

"Can I please talk to her?"

"I don't think now is a good time,"

"Lin, if you ask her, there will never be a good time. At least let me try!"

"Fine! Do what you want! It is not like I've ever been able to stop you before!" Lin yelled throwing her arms in the air in frustration. "Just be warned, even I can't protect you from her." She turned and looked down at Jinora who was still clinging to her most curiously.

"Forgive me, I must go make sure Republic City doesn't shatter into as many pieces as my home life." Lin sighed removing the fourteen year old girl's arms from her waist and walking out of the house towards the docks again leaving Tenzin, Pema, Opal, and Jinora in Tenzin's office, in silence, in shock.


	5. Words

That day, Opal, Jinora, Ikki, Kya, and even Pema tried to help Tenzin find the right words to say, mostly to HuiFan more than everybody. He hadn't seen the girl since she was eight years old, and then, she ran out of the house screaming, crying, and hurling every piece of earth of metal she could at the White Lotus Members before Lin grabbed her and held her arms trapped against her chest and lifted her off the ground and carried her back inside. She was so strong. Nearly a master earthbender in Tenzin's eyes already at eight. He couldn't imagine how strong she would be now, and he was genuinely afraid.

"I think I understand how she may be feeling," Kya began as she stood next to Tenzin in his office as he bent over a blank piece of paper. "Bumi probably does too, he'll be here tomorrow, by the way to work some more on his airbending."

"I don't think so," Tenzin replied.

"I do. Just hear me out. Dad never spent time with us because he was too focused on you. She probably just wants to feel loved by you. She probably just wants to feel worthy of life. Tell her you are proud of what she has become. Tell her you miss her and that you love her even though she is an earthbender and that you would still love her if she didn't bend at all."

"She'll just discard them as empty words. I wouldn't be surprised if she inherited Lin's cynicism," Tenzin sighed.

"Then don't write a damn letter, and just go to her, so she can see that you are sincere,"

"But Lin said she wouldn't be there to protect me from her."

"Lin also said the girl's purpose in life is to protect her family. She didn't even hurt your children with Pema! That speaks volumes."

"Daddy, if you don't want to, we can go for you," Ikki suggested.

"I would rather you not endanger yourselves," Tenzin replied.

"Dad don't worry. HuiFan is not THAAAAAAT scary. She is just like Lin, she just wears that armor, that thick skin for protection. She wouldn't ever really hurt you!" Jinora added.

"Let me try first," Tenzin decided.

* * *

He had never been to the Beifong Estate. The guards that patrolled the perimeter eyed him nervously. He didn't need to even knock before the massive cherry wood doors swung open revealing the twenty three year old metalbending prodigy that he once was able to call his own.

"HuiFan, please, listen to me."

"Why should I when you would never listen to me," she replied, her words slicing through his body like red hot daggers straight from the fire.

"I am sorry," Tenzin said.

"You don't look sorry," she replied not letting him past the door, just standing, blocking everything.

Tenzin fell to his knees. "I talked to Kya and Bumi, and I think I know how you feel now,"

"Not even they know how I feel. Grandfather Aang didn't kick them out and REPLACE Grandma Katara after she birthed a waterbender and a non-bender, and then after she couldn't keep trying after you were born," HuiFan replied with her narrow emerald green eyes trying not to cry.

"I am sorry. If I don't understand you, I am sorry. Help me understand so I can help you. I want to. If you could just let me," Tenzin begged with his head on the ground.

"You want to know how I feel?" HuiFan asked. Just then, Tenzin felt himself being yanked off the ground by a metal collar around his neck. He grabbed onto it to lessen the strain on his old neck.

"I feel like I am suffocating. I can't breathe!" She summoned a garden tool with her other hand, not releasing her grasp on her father's neck. She morphed the garden tool into a spear and aimed it at his chest then slowly slid it past his body, under his armpit. "I feel like my heart was speared onto a kebob. I feel like a half-baked piece of bread at a bakery that nobody wanted at the end of the day. I feel like no matter how hard I try, I will never be worth anything in your Air Nation!" she cried.

"I am sorry, HuiFan," Tenzin gasped.

HuiFan tensed a little before standing up a bit taller. "I am a Beifong. I can take care of myself, by myself. I can take care of my siblings. I don't need you here anymore, Councilman," she said not even using his name. She dropped the morphed garden tool and recalled the metal from around his neck letting him fall to the ground before slamming the great gates to the Beifong Estate behind her as she retreated to the house. He winced as his ankle cracked when he hit the ground.

* * *

Kya healed his ankle and his neck and his lower back that evening.

"You tried, that's all that mattered." Pema said to him.

"She's the only one who stands between me and the other five children," Tenzin sighed as Jinora listened from the hallway.

* * *

Jinora made a decision. She grabbed her glider and flew to the Beifong Estate. She made a small and quiet air scooter to avoid detection by any of the earthbenders who may be trained in seismic sense and peeked into all of the rooms, trying to find HuiFan's in the massive house. Finally, she located the metalbender. HuiFan looked troubled even in her sleep. Her hair was long and black as it covered her pillow, but there was a scowl on her face as if she were having a nightmare, and sweat on her hairline. Jinora saw she had framed the family photo she, Ikki, Meelo, and Opal had brought to her just the other day and kept it on her nightstand. Jinora looked around the room.

There were all sorts of weapons and photographs on display. She had an antique Kyoshi Warrior Uniform hung up on her wall with two golden fans on a shelf beside a photo of probably a ten year old HuiFan training with who appeared to be Jinora's great Aunt Suki. Then there was a pair of dual swords hung up on the wall and a picture of her in a simple green tunic and brown pants with a devious smile on her face and fire in her eyes as she stood beside Fire Lord there were a pair of tiger swords and a picture of the girl, maybe thirteen now training with some unknown master. Then Jinora saw an acrobat's headdress from the circus sitting on a head mannequin beside a little green dish filled with ribbons and pins and a small photo of HuiFan with some bubbly and happy looking middle aged Fire Nation woman with a single long braid and two tufts of bangs.

Jinora finally dismounted her air scooter and touched lightly down on the ground.

"Who's there!" HuiFan asked sitting up in bed. Jinora ducked instinctively at the foot of the metalbender's bed. The room was dark as the fire burned low.

There was the sound of metal on metal as HuiFan armed herself, then she slammed her palm into the wall with her eyes closed to find the intrider. Jinora tried get onto a tiny air scooter to try to deceive the earthbender in the near complete darkness, but her head just barely came over the edge of the bed, and before she knew it, she was thrown backwards and bleeding. HuiFan had flung a metal strip at her, intending to only blind her but, the angle was off, and the strip didn't stick. Jinora should have remembered what Lin said when she gave the letter to Tenzin. Her aim was even better than Fire Lady Mai, but she couldn't even get a crumpled piece of paper into a fire over eight feet high and ten feet wide. She was... off...

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" HuiFan exclaimed jumping out of bed, rushing to Jinora's side. But Jinora instinctively moved away.

"I'm sorry, too!" Jinora said fleeing, clutching her bloody face.

"We have a healer on the property! She can help!" HuiFan said chasing after her into the hall. Jinora kicked her foot back, blasting HuiFan about fifty feet down the hall before sprinting for a window and jumping out, landing lightly and running to find where she had hidden her new glider.

* * *

"Aunt Kya," Jinora said gently nudging her waterbending aunt awake.

"Huh?" Kya asked as her eyes fluttered open. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Shhh! Don't panic, please. It is just a scratch. Can you heal it?" Jinora asked calmly.

"What did you do? Jinora, this isn't just a scratch. This is worse than what Su did to Lin thirty years ago!" Kya said pulling water out of the tap in the bathroom in the other room, and taking Jinora's face in her glowing hands.

"I kind of went to the Beifong Estate. I wanted to speak to HuiFan and..."

"She attacked you?"

"She didn't mean to! It just sort of happened. I think I startled her. She was sleeping when I snuck in,"

"Jinora, you never wake a sleeping Beifong,"

"I know that now," Jinora replied.

"It's almost done. If I had gotten to it just a few minutes sooner, it wouldn't have left a scar. Fortunately, this happened at night, so there wasn't any time for the sun to damage the raw flesh any sooner. It won't be as dark as Lin's scar, but it still left a line through your airbending master's tattoo." Kya said. "What will you tell your father?"

"That I saved the island from an angry Rabaroo," Jinora replied with a deadpan expression on her face.

Kya sighed and hugged the girl. "I appreciate you trying to help your father, but you need to stop going over to the Beifong Estate, while HuiFan is... recovering."

"I know, I just want to help them both since, they're family."

"At this point, I think that they both just need time," Kya said to the little airbending master standing there in the moonlight with a line of pale flesh now cutting across the arrow tattooed on her head.


	6. Help

Avatar Korra finally returned to Air Temple Island from a tour around the world with Asami in her new Future Industries Airship to continue her airbending training. The group of airbenders were just finishing up a meditation session. Jinora sat beside her father, facing the group with the pale scar stretched across her face from her right ear, over her eye and eyebrow, and across the arrow to her hairline just above her left eyebrow. Only her parents, Opal, and Aunt Kya knew the real cause of her scar and nobody else was brave enough to ask. As the group all stood and began dispersing throughout their island, a beautiful young earthbender approached the group. She was alone, and dressed in various shades of green, black and grey. She had silver metal rings on her arms and shins and a golden headband with a fire-lily made of gold attached to the headband. On her shiny metal belt, there was the seal of the flying boar stamped into the buckle in gold. Beifong.

"Excuse me, I apologize for the intrusion, but I was told Avatar Korra would be on the island today," the metalbender said to one of the new airbenders. He pointed nervously in the direction of Tenzin, Jinora, Korra, Ikki, Opal, and Meelo. The metalbender thanked him and walked towards Korra, avoiding eye contact with any of her family members. "Avatar Korra," She said avoiding the curious stares from the others and the worried gazes from her estranged family. "I was wondering, if it were possible... Well I know it is possible since Grandpa Aang could do it, but... If you could, please, will you take my bending away. I will do anything!" the girl said kneeling before the Avatar expectantly.

"What?!" Korra yelled. The metalbender winced as if she were slapped. "Are you insane?! Bending is a gift! You should embrace it! Use it to protect the ones you love!"

"Please, Avatar! I have tried! I have trained my entire life to master as many skills I have could, but I couldn't protect my family and I hate it! I hate being an earthbender. My mother says I need it to protect my family, but I have been able to do with it is hurt my family, in sparring, in fear, in instinct..." She gasped. "Just last night, I hurt a sister I have never met before! I scarred her face PERMANENTLY and I just- don't want it to ever happen again!"

"I am not going to take away your bending just because you can't control it and want me to! I don' even know who you are!" Korra replied, heat rising to her face with anger at this metalbender's audacity.

The metalbender fell silent for a few moments, fuming. Her heart was racing and her chest rising and falling rapidly, before she took a deep breath and regained complete control of her own body. She wiped her face on the fabric inside of her sleeve that was plated with metal like her Aunt and stood. She rose like a warrior off the ground, standing tall and proud with her chin up and her eyes down. She was an inch taller than Korra, but her expression made everyone see her as larger than what she really was.

"Fine. If the avatar can't help me, no one can."

The metalbender raised her arms with bent elbows lifting six metal strips off her arms, three on each side. She curled her fingers and the strips bent into razor sharp, thin boomerangs perfectly level with her own neck.

"Korra! She's going to-" Jinora began to start forward. Korra grabbed the metalbender's hands and yanked her down before the six blades could criss cross right where the metalbender's neck was moments before. The metal fell to the ground with several clanks as the girl broke down again.

Tenzin and Jinora rushed over as Ikki, Opal, Meelo, watched rooted in their place.

"HuiFan! You didn't hurt me! Scars happen. It is my fault for sneaking up on you!" Jinora insisted trying to comfort the distraught metalbender.

"But I am older. I should be able to control myself. I am supposed to protect you too!" the metalbender said to Jinora, running her finger across the young master airbender's face where her metal cut clean across Jinora's arrow.

"HuiFan," Tenzin said with all seriousness in his voice, pulling HuiFan into his arms as she shrunk away from him. "I am sorry for hurting you. I am and I will never ask for your forgiveness. I was crass when I said those things. I was blinded by duty and fear. But then and now, I was older than you. I should have been able to control myself. We are all human. We all make human mistakes. I never meant to hurt you or your mother just like you never meant to hurt Jinora. I may never be able to make it up to you, but may I at least try?" Tenzin asked HuiFan.

She was listening, but unable to respond. her eyes were closed and her body shaking with anger and fear. Just in time, Kya dropped down beside them with her hands encased in glowing water. She lifted the healing water to either side of HuiFan's head, calming her brain while all of her memories flooded back to the front of her head. After a few minutes HuiFan stopped shaking but was still in great pain.

There was the sound of heavy metal footsteps running up the dirt path to the meditation area and they turned to see Chief Beifong running towards them followed by two strong, tall, young, male metalbenders and three lanky teenagers in air nomad colors carrying staffs.

"Where is she?" Lin demanded tossing aside some of the new airbenders. lifting her armor off over her head and tossing it into one of the metalbenders arms. He dropped it right there and kept walking after his mother, his face rife with worry. She lifted a rock and punched it right to Tenzin, knocking him out of the way, sliding to replace him, cradling her daughter in her arms. "HuiFan!" Lin lifted the girl. She wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face in her mother's chest.

Tenzin threw the rock off of him and looked first at Lin and his eldest daughter, then up at the rest of his children that he hadn't seen in sixteen years. The two other metalbenders were sobbing. Then at the three teenagers carrying staffs and wearing earth kingdom style clothes in air nomad colors. The two girls each had a pair of golden fans tucked into their waistbands. The oldest airbending girl, Jiexue, had her hair in a single braid that was wrapped in a loop on the back of her head. The next girl, Xiaoyu had hair like Lin's when Lin was sixteen, long and wavy tied back in a loose inverted pony tail at the base of her neck. Then the youngest, a boy who looked only about a year older than Jinora had his hair shaved on the sides with a short cut down the middle, but long bangs combed to the side. He looked confused.

Tenzin was baffled. They carried staffs. Who taught them how to fly? Lin?

"Mom," HuiFan opened her eyes finally.

"I am here," Lin said touching her face.

"Chief!" Korra said loudly. "She asked me to take her bending away and when I refused, tried to decapitate herself!" Korra said rather insensitively as if she were a small child tattling on an older sibling.

"I am sorry," HuiFan said to Lin more than anybody. "I hurt Jinora and I just didn't want to risk hurting any more family."

"HuiFan, can you imagine how you would hurt me, your brothers and sisters, if you went away completely?" Lin asked beconing the six blades her daughter made to her hand. HuiFan closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. Lin held her with one arm and with the other, fused the six blades together and morphed them into a crown with the earth kingdom symbol and the three swirls of the air nation embedded within it. Then she placed the crown on her daughter's head and just held her. "Accidents happen. Jinora is fine. You must emerge from these situations stronger than before and see what you can learn from your mistakes."

"Excuse me, Sir," the fifteen year old airbender boy asked Tenzin. "Are you Master Tenzin?"

"I am," Tenzin said finding his feet again with some difficulty making an effort to turn his attention away from Lin and HuiFan.

"My name is Kang," The boy said taking a step back from Tenzin upon seeing how tall he was. Lin and HuiFan looked over at the energetic and seemingly rather happy young boy, HuiFan coming off of her mother's lap to kneel on the ground on her own. "I- I'm so glad to finally meet you! Though the circumstances were rather unfortunate, I am so glad that I can finally see an airbending master up close!" Kang said.

"You don't have to hold back, Kang. Everybody will know now soon enough. That is why I allowed you to come to get your sister," Lin said impatiently.

"My brothers and eldest sister have told me so many great stories about you, and I was wondering if I could come train with you!" He said almost faster than Ikki spoke. Tenzin looked down at this fifteen year old. He didn't appear to harbor any resentment, anger or pain. He never knew his father, he never knew his family's old home and whatever his siblings had told him, left a completely positive impression. "I am an airbender, and though Mom is a great airbending teacher, she will still not an airbender let alone a master and I want to learn, all that I can from you!" The boy added after Tenzin's silence.

Tenzin looked astonishingly at HuiFan and realized then that she never shared with her siblings what he or the White Lotus told her so many years ago. She kept her promise to her mother and protected them, like a good big sister, and it was eating her up inside. Tenzin looked at Kang's sisters with confusion.

"We were going to you to train us too, we just knew we wouldn't have to beg for it," the older girl, Jiexue said looking away with contempt, waving her hand with her other arm folded across her chest just like her mother.

"Jiexue," Tenzin said breathlessly. She turned to him with furrowed brows.

"You remember our names?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Tenzin said. "I had your photograph on my desk and looked at it every day! I missed you so all so much!" He said genuinely.

Nobody moved except the boy, Kang who jumped up and hugged the dad he never met. Too much time had passed for the others to forgive him so easily.

"I made a mistake," Lin said suddenly. "I trained them too hard to protect themselves, to build up walls taller and thicker than my own all while keeping them sheltered in the house, their talents kept hidden away from the world, them hidden away from the world. My mom got too little freedom growing up, I got too much, and now I've not them not enough," Lin said sadly.

"But nobody is perfect and all we can do is work through it, together," Tenzin said placing a hand on Lin's shoulder.

"But Aunt Lin, now we can match!" Jinora said cheerfully trying to lighten the heavy mood that hung around them, sliding beside Lin. "Both came from our half sisters." Lin smiled and put an arm around Jinora.

"I am sorry, for what I did Jinora," HuiFan said quietly.

"Stop apologizing or I am going to become a temperamental teenager too!" Jinora said stomping her foot with a gust of air.

"Why aren't I afraid of a little airbender?" HuiFan asked looking at her mother.

"Because you are MY daughter, and I was never afraid of an air bender," Lin replied with a smirk.

"So what exactly did your mom teach you with regards to airbending, considering she is a master metalbender," Tenzin asked Kang.

"Well, this move is my personal favorite. Apparently Grandpa Aang invented it but it goes like this!" Kang said making an air sphere and jumping on it and riding it around in circles, roaring with laughter before running into a tree while not looking. Lin covered her face with embarrassment. Even HuiFan giggled. She loved her youngest brother's liveliness and silliness.

"You can make an air scooter?" Jinora asked running towards him.

"Do you want to race?!" Ikki asked joining them as the older two, JieXue, and Xiaoyu rolled their eyes.

"Sure!"

"HuiFan, may I put on my uniform again?" Lin asked her eldest daughter. "Are you done crying?"

"Sorry, for interrupting your day at work,"

"You're my daughter. You're never an interruption," Lin replied calmly. "And I won't be going back to work for a while. I put in an indefinite leave of absence, to be with you guys." She bent the dust and dirt off of her uniform and slapped it onto her back in one fluid motion while all the airbenders watched in awe except for her own children.

"Wait, what exactly is happening here?" Korra asked Lin and Tenzin.

They glanced at each other. "It's... complicated." the two said in unison.

"HuiFan, why don't you come back for a healing session? I can re-braid your hair after if you like. I learned to do this new hair style that some of the Sun Warriors do in the Fire Nation..." Kya said putting a hand over HuiFan's shoulders, leading her into the main house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this sad story that I wrote on a train ride home this past weekend. If you have time, I'd love to hear what you think in the reviews:)))


	7. A Confession and a Memory

In the main house, Pema ended up making tea for everyone, while Korra sat awkwardly across from Lin, Kya and HuiFan in the living room. All of the airbender children were out on some adventure with their father while Lin's metalbending sons went to "check out what's left of their old home". Kya sat on the other side of HuiFan and lifted water to her head again.

"Do you remember when you were ten and I would come over every week to do this?" Kya asked HuiFan. The young woman smiled at the memory.

"And I would put dirt into the healing water towards the end and make it into a slurry and chase you with it?" HuiFan added.

"And it would end in a mud fight that ruined half of your mom's pretty garden?" Kya finished.

HuiFan laughed.

"You were always a rascally one," Kya said warmly. Just then the door that was just repaired was broken down, this time by Bumi's rather messy airbending.

"Did I hear my favorite little niece has finally returned from her schooling at the prestigious Beifong Academy?" Bumi asked with his arms open wide for the little metalbender.

"It is not an academy! It is called having Lin as my mother!" HuiFan replied hugging Bumi.

"One day, I gotta take you out on the town and show you the real world!" Bumi said with his arm around HuiFan and their backs to her mother.

"Take her anywhere and I'll have you arrested for kidnapping!" Lin growled folding her arms.

"Good luck with that one, sugar queen! This girl is what, twenty two now?"

"Twenty three,"

"Damn! I am getting old!" Bumi cursed under his breath. "I remember when you were just a wee little thing already chucking rocks at your defenseless uncle Bumi!" Bumi said holding his hand down at his knee to show how small she was. Kya and Lin laughed. Despite being born a month early and incredibly weak, HuiFan was bending by the time she was one and a half and destroyed her entire nursery once during a tantrum.

Pema was glad that that the poor girl who almost committed suicide with her own bending was feeling better, but she couldn't tell how long it would last. Bumi and Kya certainly helped this girl but Pema still wasn't sure. _And Tenzin! He had this whole life with Lin that she didn't know about until a few days ago. They weren't just boyfriend and girlfriend. They had a whole family together! And Pema confessed her love to Tenzin and the White Lotus interpreted it as she was ready to give him babies while Lin was unable?_ Pema shook her head as a pang of guilt stabbed her in the chest.

* * *

"You know, sometimes I wish I were born an earthbender, instead," Kang confessed to Tenzin as he twirled some pebbles in his hand with an air vortex while they lagged behind Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Jiexue and Xiaoyu.

"Why?" Tenzin asked.

"So I can feel the beautiful house we would have lived in on this island," Kang replied looking at the ground. "HungJian, HuiFan, and JinKun, they can see everything and visit it. I've always wanted to see it."

"The house is gone, Tenzin sighed looking over to the cliff upon which Lin built it so many years ago. "Your mother destroyed it the day she left the island."

"She didn't!" Kang replied. "HuiFan was the first to notice, Mama was lying when she told the stories. She destroyed many things, the temple, your bedroom, that one tree, but she didn't destroy the house, just like you didn't destroy the photographs that you said you would. Hung Jian confirmed it when we came up from the docks today to find HuiFan before she... Anyways, t he house is just burried, and then Mom turned up the surrounding earth to look like rubble. And JinKun said it is completely in tact!"

"Really?" Tenzin asked. He was almost happy about it, so Lin hadn't given up on him either. "Did you really mean what you said back there about HungJian, huifan and Jinkun telling you great stories about me?"

"Yeah!"

"I thought they would make you hate me."

"No! We all understand one mistake does not define a human being. We know you had a duty to the Air Nomads, and sometimes love means letting go. I know I never hated you. I remember HuiFan could go on for hours about how every day when mom came home from work late, she would bend off her uniform while you made her favorite tea and and then massage all the knots out of her shoulders and back until she fell asleep. And HungJian told me how you stayed home four days a week and supervise the sparring tournaments and read stories to them and meditate with them even though they were earth benders, because it was relaxing. Even though they could never go beyond the gates of the house, but it was okay because they had you and you were enough to make them happy," Kang told him.

Tenzin wiped a tear from his eye. He remembered tickling them and telling them stories, making silly faces, and bouncing them in the air with an air funnel while Lin screamed at him about the danger. He always compared it to how after they were three, she'd sometimes carry them by a single metal band around their waist. He remembered tending to Lin's injuries day after day and making love to her night after night. And he looked down at his son who treated him as the last sixteen years never happened, happy to be together and grateful for the time they had.

"Tenzin," a voice called. Tenzin turned and saw his first love walking towards them alone. "Apparently Bumi invited Su AND her family here as soon as he got wind that I let my kids leave home. I told her to come to the estate so now I have to go home and make sure everything is ready for their arrival tomorrow morning. Pema told me the children could stay to spend more time with you, Kya and Bumi if you're comfortable with that."

"Of course I am! Will HuiFan also stay?"

"Yes. Kya has been working with her every hour or so. She is feeling a little better."

"I am glad."

"Hey Mom, have you seen Hungjian or jinkun? They disappeared hours ago!" Kang asked his mother.

Lin stomped her foot once to search for them, and a second time to push them out of the ground and into the sunlight again.

"I miss being able to see the wall you decorated, Ma," Jinkun said sadly.

"Yeah," Hungjian added.

"Is this the mosaic with the badgermoles dancing in the caves and the sky bison dancing in the clouds?" Kang asked.

"The very one!" JinKun said with his arms folded.

"How do you think I feel? I've never seen it! Can you take me to go pleeeeeeease?" Kang begged his older brothers, tugging on their arms while their parents watched with amused smiles on their faces.

"Sure, little bro-" Hung Jian said opening a dark tunnel into the ground.

"Wait! Can we bring avatar Korra?! I won't be able to see down there and she's a firebender!" Kang asked. They turned to Lin for permission.

"I would rather you not parade everyone in the world through our home," Lin replied.

"There should be flashlights in the old house that you can use," Tenzin suggested.

"Okay, thanks Dad!" Hung Jian and JinKun each took one of Kang's arms and guided him blindly into the tunnel, closing it behind them.

"May I walk you to the docks?" Tenzin asked Lin.

"I suppose,"

"I am so surprised HuiFan didn't make him hate me, Kang I mean."

"HuiFan loves you, Tenzin, for what you were. She loves you just as I did, as I do. We understand that you had to do what you did- just there must have been another way to go about it."

"Like waiting for HuiFan to actually go to bed before beginning those confidential meetings?"

"Heh, yeah."

"I am sorry for hurting you, Lin. And I just wanted to say that I could not be more grateful for all that you've done with and for all of our children, even the ones that weren't yours to protect!"

"Just- don't hurt them again," Lin said boarding the ferry. I may call them home tomorrow. I can only entertain Su and her brood of banshees for so long on my own."

"If I may, can I bring Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo ovre sometimes, to spend some time with their siblings outside of training?" Tenzin asked.

"Of course! I suppose it would be good practice for Jiexue, Xiaoyu, and Kang, to be around other airbenders," Lin admitted.

* * *

When Tenzin returned to the house, he found his eldest daughter sitting between Kya's legs getting her long wavy black hair braided. Her hair was thick and luscious and reminded him so much of Lin, but her other features, her face, arms, and legs were soft, thin, and delicate like his own mother, Katara in her youth. Bumi was making her laugh with his reenactment of some encounter with the Unagi that lived off the shores of Kyoshi Island. Nearby, Jiexue and Xiaoyu were telling Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo stories that were making them laugh.

"May I join you?" Tenzin asked JieXue and Xiaoyu.

"But how can we talk about you if you do?" Jiexue asked rolling her eyes before smiling, making the children laugh.

They spent the rest of the afternoon together, until Pema interrupted them to announce dinner was almost ready. "Is everyone here?"

"Do you know where my brothers are?" HuiFan asked Tenzin.

"They went to see the old house," Tenzin replied cautiously. HuiFan sighed and stood up to go retrieve them. Her hair was finished with over a dozen braids and ponytails and flowers laced into her golden headband.

"I'll go get them," she decided.

"May I come with you?" Tenzin asked.

"You won't be able to see anything without seismic sense?"

"We do have flashlights in this century,"

"Right... Fine." Huifan decided reluctantly. Tenzin ran to get a flashlight then headed out into the evening. She stopped at the point at the base of the hill where their house used to sit and bent a tunnel into the mound. And they began the decent. They came first to the gate. The flying boar no longer had the glint of the sun on the gold. The colored stones of the mosaic were now all the same shade of brown, covered in dust and dirt. HuiFan didn't even stop to glance at it. She just marched towards the house where light emanated from an upstairs window. Everything was right where they had left it the night that Lin took the children and left by ferry. She already had the Beifong Estate completed for a while now and only needed to show up to be moved in. They climbed the narrow stairs past the kitchen up to the second level when they heard voices from the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

"And that was when after Aunt Kya and Aunt Mai taught HuiFan how to braid hair. She experimented on Mom for HOURS because JieXue and Xiaoyi's hair was not yet long enough and JinKun's head was half shaved!" HungJian said pointing at a photograph of Lin on the couch trying to read while HuiFan had half of her mother's then black hair up in some beaded head dress.

"How did mom escape?" Kang asked curiously as he sat between his brothers with the book on his lap.

"Dad said he needed to be with her before he could sleep and he had to sleep soon since he had work the next morning." JinKun replied.

Kang laughed.

Tenzin remembered that night. He helped take out all of the pins that their daughter had shoved into her head and they had sex until much later into the night than he had hoped. Neither wanted to wake the next morning.

"Hey guys, sorry to cut Kang's tour down memory lane short. Pema made dinner and Mom left us here for the night." HuiFan said plainly leaning against the door frame with her arms folded impatiently

"Coming!" Kang sang lifting himself to his feet with airbending while his two older brothers stood up a bit more clumsily. They closed the photo album and slid it back under their parent's old bed and followed Hui Fan out of the room.

Tenzin lingered a moment, in the room. It felt like just yesterday, he and Lin were laying side by side planing out the rest of their lives with five beautiful children, not knowing Kang was in her belly.


	8. Sleep Over

"These are the girls' dormitories, and these three are your rooms! The dressers should have pajamas and there is a towel on top if you want to bathe before bed, and a lamp here and a desk. It is not much, but it is home!" Ikki explained walking into the first room and pointing at every piece of furniture. The rooms at Air Temple Island were small and modest with low rising queen sized beds with rather thin, flimsy mattresses, few blankets, and one pillow per person. The wood furniture was made of a light balsa wood and the decorations were non existent. HuiFan walked over to a place on the wall and ran her finger over it. She took a hairpin out of her head and stabbed it into the wood at an upward angle and hung her golden headband and the green ribbons that secured her braids, meticulously undoing all of Aunt Kya's handiwork.

"It is more than enough, Ikki, thank you," Xiaoyu said with a smile.

"We will probably share the room. It is the first time we're sleeping away from home and would feel more comfortable if we're together," Jiexue told the little airbender. "Is that okay, sis?"

"Mhm," HuiFan replied with one ribbon between her lips as she brushed out her hair.

"Like a sleep over?" Ikki asked.

"Of sorts,"

"May Jinora and Opal and I join you?" Ikki begged jumping up and down.

"Ikki, it is not a party; we still have to sleep!" HuiFan said stabbing another pin into the wall to hang up her silver necklace. "Do they even want to spend the night over here?"

"Probably! Please?! I feel like there's still soooooo much we don't know about you!" Ikki explained.

"What's there to know?" HuiFan asked opening an empty drawer, inspecting the size and bending off her metal belt with the Beifong crest, her cables, and her wrist guards into the drawer, leaving a dagger on the bedside table while her sisters leaned their gliders against the corner of the wall and set their fans in the drawer on the other side of the bed.

"Everything!"

"You're the one with the loud insatiable curiosity, aren't you?" Jiexue asked.

"What is 'insatiable'?" Ikki asked cluelessly.

"Impossible to satisfy," Jiexue defined.

"I believe Jinora is the one who likes to read." HuiFan replied.

"So can I get them?!" Ikki asked again.

Hui Fan glanced at her two sisters who both shrugged. "If it is okay with your mom, I don't see a problem."

"She doesn't have to know!" Ikki replied.

HuiFan frowned.

"Okay, I'll go ask!" Ikki declared before sprinting off, not wanting to get on a Beifong's bad side.

Within the hour, everyone had showered and brushed their teeth and settled on the queen sized bed in their pajamas.

"Have you ever worn make up before?!" Ikki asked JieXue as the girl dried her own hair with one quick blast of air.

"Nope! Only HuiFan has. We were never allowed, being airbenders and all. Ma made sure we lead simpler lives to be more in touch with our culture. She did let us design new robes in our colors though. That was nice," Jiexue replied.

"Don't worry, Ikki. You're not missing anything other than another chore. Makeup is time consuming and tedious to put on and take off. And when it is on, it makes you feel more self conscious when you eat because you don't want to ingest any of it," HuiFan assured the eleven year old girl.

"Ohhh..." Ikki sighed. "Sooooooo... How old were you when you started earthbending and metalbending? And is that the same meteor bracelet that Great Uncle Sokka gave to Toph Beifong when he learned swordsmanship from Master Piandao of the Fire Nation? And are you considered a master? And what is the most abundant flower in the gardens of the Beifong Estate? And have you ever been on an airship and what were you doing when Amon was attacking the city, and" Ikki asked HuiFan rapidly.

"Ikki! Let her think and speak. She is not a criminal and you are not Chief Beifong!" Jinora said shoving her little sister.

"A month and a day and four years when I started metalbending. No. Yes. Fire lily. No. And sitting in my room sharpening my knives while being pissed off at my mom for not letting me go at the waterbending fraud of a revolutionary," HuiFan replied casually siting cross legged with one forearm resting across one knee, and the other elbow on her other knee with her chin in her hand.

Ikki turned her attention to Jiexue. "How old are you know and how old were you when you started airbending? And how did you learn to fly when my dad was the only airbending master in the WORLD at the time? And do you ever wish you could bend a different element? If so, which? And have you ever seen any of Varrick's Movers?"

"I am eighteen now, and I didn't start bending until I was six years old. I had sneezed and flung myself across the room, and into a wall and gave myself a concussion. Fortunately, Aunt Kya was visiting at the time and was able to heal me. It was then that Mom decided to find an in-home healer to come live with us who would be sworn to secrecy. My mother taught me all of the forms and maneuvers she could remember from when she used to watch and sometimes participate in our Father's lessons with Grandpa Aang and left us to figure out the rest it out on our own. She may not have been an airbender herself, but she could tell when we were doing something horribly wrong. Sometimes I wish I could bend earth and metal so I can sneak tunnel out of the house, and not be seen by the guards. And we have only seen a couple of Varrick's Movers. Mother despises the guy, though approves of his wife and says she is very pleasant to be around," Jiexue answered.

It was Xiaoyu's turn to be interviewed. "How old are you and when did you start airbending? Have you ever been to the spirit world? If I touched your hair, would you kill me? Do you have a favorite restaurant in Republic City? Do you have any pets?"

"I am sixteen years old, I started bending when I was four, about three days after Jiexue gave herself a concussion with her own sneeze. I have not been to the spirit world, nor do I have any interest in going any time soon. I don't think I would kill you, if you touched my hair, but if you pulled it with enough force to hurt, I may have to break your wrist. I have never been to Republic City, so I don't have a favorite restaurant there, and no, no pets." Xiaoyu replied.

"Never been to Republic City?" Jinora asked.

"It was for our own safety." Xiaoyu explained.

Jinora cocked her head to the side.

"Our mother didn't want the triads to know we existed. If they wanted to get to her, it would only be too easy to snatch up a defenseless and naive child to hold hostage, and you know our mom. You know how she cares for children,"

"Actally, I thought she hated children,"

"Well you know how she cares for you, just imagine how she cared for us..." Xiaoyu added.

"But you're such powerful benders," Opal exclaimed.

"So are your brothers, Wing and Wei, yet Aunt Su won't let them travel outside the Beifong residence in Zaofu unless they're accompanying her on some secret mission to assassinate an emperor. Regardless of circumstance, she keeps them where she can watch them." Jiexue noted.

"That is not true!" Opal exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" HuiFan asked her cousin, lifting an eyebrow.

Opal thought back. She had been based at Air Temple Island for so long, and traveling around the Earth Kingdom for nearly four years, she nearly forgot how her first seventeen years of her life had been Zaofu. And now she realized she didn't remember ever walking the streets of the downtown dome or any of the other neighborhoods. She had only seen her family's home, the inside of the train, and the airship docks at the other end of the city.

"But you're not children anymore. You're not defenseless anymore. You haven't been for a while, yet you still can't go out?" Jinora asked.

"Our mother didn't there to be any scandal. Unlike your births, ours weren't published in every newspaper across the globe when they happened, and we didn't to have to lie about our parentage. We were too proud to claim our father was some insignificant civilian like mother's father was, but we also didn't want to ruin our father's reputation or hurt his current wife or any of you guys. We didn't know if you could handle the information, and we were more or less fine where we were in hiding, so we stayed," HuiFan sighed laying back on the bad.

"It must have been so lonely!" Jinora exclaimed asked.

"Eh, we had teachers from all over the world, Aunt Kya, and Fire Princess Izumi come to spend time with us and tell us stories. Uncle Bumi came on a couple of occasions. I went to live with Aunt Su for a summer in my rebellious days. We had all the guards on the estate to spar with after I surpassed both my brothers in strength and skills in training. And I had five siblings to read with, play games, and create things with." HuiFan told them.

"Did you ever feel pressure to be the become the best metalbender in the world? Being a Beifong and all?" Opal asked HuiFan.

"Nope. I knew I would become the best metalbender in the world," HuiFan replied putting her hands behind her head.

"Do you think you will join the police force like your mom?"

"No. Mom told me if we ever did leave the estate, to not even try joining the force. She says it is a death sentence. She hates her job. She loves her city, but still hates her job. She wants us to choose our own path, but doesn't let us out to explore or even find out where we want to go in the world. I still want Korra to take my bending away. It has done nothing but cause problems for me," HuiFan said crossing one leg over her knee. "If I were born an airbender, or even a non-bender. The numbers wouldn't have been stacked against my mother and I would still have a complete family."

"HuiFan, get over yourself. You couldn't control how you came out of the womb. We must all make the best of our circumstances. We're all here now. We're all still breathing, and we're all free, and tomorrow, Aunt Su's coming. From what I've heard from mom, three of aunt Su's sons are earthbenders, and I am sure two of them will want to spar you," Jiexue said putting a hand on her older sister's arm.

"But I'll hurt them," HuiFan said with a bit of sadness in her voice as she looked at the ceiling.

"That's what happens in sparring. Besides, the twins especially need to be humbled." Opal chimed in trying to alleviate some of her cousin's sadness.

"I suppose," HuiFan sighed rolling over and closing her eyes silently encouraging everyone to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate the honest feedback! PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS IF YOU HAVE TIME! Here's a hella awkard chapter, imho.


	9. Invitations

The next morning, Jiexue and Xiaoyu woke up early and found their brother Kang to drag him to the highest part of the island to meditate. Usually they flew to the highest peak in the mountain range that surrounded Republic City, but they didn't feel like flying over the bay and risking being at the mercy of unfamiliar air currents. The three siblings sat cross-legged in the lotus position on the roof of the Air Temple Sanctuary on the island.

The others woke and dressed and had breakfast before Tenzin finally asked, "HuiFan, where are your siblings?"

"I don't know and I don't care. Since Mom left us here, for the time being, it is highly unlikely that they would leave," HuiFan replied, with her eyes half open as she took a bite of a redbean-filled sweet bun.

After breakfast, Tenzin, Jinora, Opal, Ikki, and Meelo searched all over the island while the three earthbending Beifongs insisted they needn't worry.

Meelo was the first to spot the Lin's airbenders on the roof of the temple. They meditated until the sun rose over the horizon before standing, and opening their gliders to fly down.

"Do you meditate every morning?" Tenzin asked the three.

"And every afternoon and night. Mother says we must." Kang replied.

"And you listen?" Tenzin asked with disbelief.

"Of course! We trust her," Xiaoyu told him.

"I am very impressed with your discipline. I will have to thank her, for all she's done," Tenzin commented.

As they began back towards the main house, they saw a rather full looking ferry approaching the docks and went to get a closer look.

It was the Beifongs of Zaofu. The twins practically sprinted up the two hundred steps with their superior agility and youthful energy and excitement, eager to meet their cousins. Wei arrived first nearly running into HungJian and JinKun who stood side by side watching them with uncertainty.

"I'm Baatar Jr, and this is my brother Huan!" Wei said raising his hand while gasping for air as the rest of their family walked up the stairs.

"No!" Wing interjected punching his identical twin brother in the stomach. "I'M Baatar Jr. and YOU are Huan!" Wing corrected his twin.

HuiFan shoved both of her metalbending brothers aside, walking between them directly to the twins with the most contemptuous expression she could manage. "And I am HuiFan and I can tell you are BOTH lying!" She said with narrowing eyes as she looked down at their hunched over figures with her chin held high.

The twins gasped. "You're a truth seer?!"

HuiFan smirked in confirmation as the twins yelled and started jumping up and down with excitement.

"Mom! It is so good to see you!" Opal exclaimed running into her mother's arms.

"And you! What do you think of your newfound family?" Suyin asked.

"Did you know about them?"

"Yes, but we were sworn to secrecy to protect Pema and the little ones."

"Naturally," Opal smiled.

"I believe introductions are in order!" Suyin said a little more loudly as Baatar finally made his way up the stairs last. "Opal, dear, will you please stand there, thank you." Suyin asked her daughter gently pointing to the place between Baatar Jr. and Huan, so her children stood in birth order.

"Alright, troop. LINE UP!" Lin barked rather harshly contrasting her little sister's gentle nudges. Lin's six children all ran to their place in a line from oldest to youngest, facing Suyin's offspring.

"You have trained them well," Suyin said with a smirk seeing her older sister beaming with pride. "I am your Aunt Suyin, and this is my husband Baatar, then my oldest son, Baatar Jr, then Huan, you already know Opal, and my babies, Wing and Wei."

"But I'm Wei and he's Wing!"

"Honestly, woman. You call yourself our mother!" Wing sighed shaking his head as Suyin rolled her eyes.

"He is Hungjian, then HuiFan, JinKun, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, and our little surprise, Kang," Lin said pointing at each of her children. They all bowed at the sound of their names.

"We had a super great family and that has become even bigger and I can't wait for us to spend time together!" Kang exclaimed nearly jumping up and down with joy as his older siblings looked at him with the same raised eyebrow, the same frown, and the same arms folded across their bodies.

"He must have gotten that enthusiasm from Tenzin's side of the family," Suyin noted aloud looking at the boy skeptically.

"I am surprised you haven beaten the happiness out of that one," Kya whispered appearing between Lin and Suyin.

"Oh, I tried, but the boy's also inherited the Beifong stubbornness." Lin replied elbowing her friend playfully.

"Hey, HuiFan, you wanna spar?" Wing asked.

"You might need your twin just to last longer than a minute. I stopped sparing her when she was thirteen." HungJian said.

"Let him find out for himself just how well I spar," HuiFan replied cracking her knuckles and neck.

"Let's do this at the beach so we don't hit the houses!" Jiexue said jumping between them, and the Beifong children all ran down to the beach.

"You'll want to see this Su," Lin said following at a calm walk with her sister's hand in hers.

Opal, Jinora and Ikki slid down to some ledges on the cliff side that encircled thae little private beach to watch. Baatar Jr, Huan, HungJian, JinKun, Jiexue, Xiaoyu and Kang stayed a safe distance from the two, on top of the cliffs surrounding the beach. Lin and Su stood shoulder to shoulder looking down as Wing and HuiFan faced each other on the beach.

Wing's first move was to solidify the sand beneath his feet to one larger solid rock before beginning. While waiting for a boulder to fly towards his face, HuiFan smiled and pulled one out of the cliff side behind him knocking him onto his face in the sand. He spit out the dirt. "You can bend out of your range?!" Wing yelled in surpriise as she bent another boulder behind him, but he smashed it to a few dozen smaller rocks.

She just smiled and sent four metal strips his way. He checked them aside with a blade crafted from his wrist guard and flung a cable at her. She turned it back around, unwinding it from his reel even more before doing a back walk over over the loop and tying him up, before throwing him up in the air to a place beside his mother.

"That was fast," Lin said with a victorious smirk on her face.

"And that is why I only use cables for transportation!" HuiFan yelled.

"My turn!" Wei yelled said jumping off the cliff with excitement.

"I apologize in advance for whatever she does to your sons," Lin said nodding to Wei as Suyin helped Wing off the ground and out of his own cables.

Wei tried to break HuiFan's stance by shifting the sand beneath her, but she merely spun on one hand and broke his. He recovered quickly with a kip up and sent an assortment of decent sized rocks her way in rapid succession. She stopped them like a water bender, creating an invisible force to redirect the rocks in every direction from coming closer. She sent a swipe of sand towards him with a sweep kick, but he took it in his hands with a turn and sent it back. She jumped on an earth mound and rode it like a wave around his place, leaving in her wake, a growing wall, encircling him, but instead of restricting it to the beach, rode her sandy wave straight into the shallow breaking waves, pulling up more sand to keep herself dry, above the surface of the sandy water. She trapped Wei in a circle of half sand and water then ran over him and stood on the wall on the sandy side. He tried to break the wall, but she held onto control of that earth. He tried to knock her off the wall with boulders and earth quakes but she rebuilt. Finally, She pulled her hands together shrinking her circular wall, and pushing the bay water over Wei's head, so he was in a deep, but small swimming pool. she jumped back and stood on the cliffs and shaped it into a bowl like thing with threads and began spinning the rock bowl, creating a whirl pool.

"No fair!" Wei yelled.

"What is not fair about it? I am just bending the earth!" HuiFan smiled.

Wei created a depression then pumped the side of the wall, splashing HuiFan. Then drained the water onto her, soaking her. She was annoyed now. Then he did the same thing, wrapping her into the ocean.

"What are you going to do without contact with the earth?" Wei asked.

HuiFan bent one metal cable into one cliff wall then split the other one into two and flew out of the water and over the beach onto dry sand. Instead of retracting her cables, she ripped massive chunks of rock clear out of the cliff wall and swung them one at a time as he moved to dodge the satomobile sized masses. She jumped dodging one of his attacks, and retracted her cables, sliding up behind him, staying in his blind spot as he turned back and forth. She danced around his punches and kicks, bobbing and weaving like an airbender, before finally, trapping one of his feet in rock before hitting him at various points on his back, shoulders, and neck, rending his bending useless, before releasing his foot and taking a step back.

"You're a chi-blocker too?!" Wei asked looking up at his cousin miserably.

She folded her arms and smirked. "Are you surprised?"

"When did you learn?"

"Mom was forty when she was chi-blocked for the first time. She said it was scary so she hired Ty Lee from the Fire Nation to come train us, so that if we were ever chi-blocked, we would still have other options to fight with. She never wanted us to be defenseless," HuiFan explained.

"How long do the effects last?" Wei asked still kneeling before her.

"Between an hour and... a week, maybe, depending on how many places I hit, how hard, and how strong of a bender you are, among other factors," HuiFan answered.

"Can you reverse it? I can't let my brother be the cooler one!" Wei exclaimed.

"Nope! But I would be glad to get him as well, if you want." HuiFan offered taking a step back, before lifting a pillar of earth beneath herself to lift her out of the cove.

"Wait! But I can't bend now!" Wei called after her.

"Good job, sweetheart," Lin said putting an arm on HuiFan's shoulder.

"You got chi blocked!" Wing taunted Wei in a sing-song manner, flicking pebbles at his brother's head while Suyin swatted him away, holding Wei's hand.

"She coddles them too much," HuiFan whispered to her mother.

"Some would say I coddle you too much," Lin replied shoving her daughter a few feet off so that they continued to walk side by side but separated, both with smiles on their pale, faces.

That afternoon, three newcomers arrived o the island.

"Knock knock, I heard a rumor that my five best friends were all in the same town without me!" someone said.

"No-" Lin breathed setting down her cup of tea.

"ZUMI!" Suyin and Kya both bolted for the door.

"What's happening?" Pema asked running into the living room as four more people entered her house.

"How's My Little Zum Zum?" Bumi asked running over to hug her.

She put a flaming hand out to stop Bumi.

"Firelord Izumi to you!" she said dangerously as Suyin and Kya giggled.

"I'm the one who told you to come and I don't even get a hug?" Bumi asked.

"Fine," Izumi said relenting.

"Wait! DADDY YOU KNOW FIRE LORD IZUMI?" Ikki exclaimed turning to her father.

"We all grew up together on this very island! Your father and Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi and Aunt Lin and Aunt Suyin and me. This was the safest place to be while they were busy being the heads of the four nations building the United Republic! How could we not be friends?" Izumi asked.

Lin and Tenzin were the last to go over and embrace Izumi.

"Where's the royal escort?" Lin asked.

"I came in disguise. I have guards in the bay and in the city just in case, but I wanted our reunion to be quiet and quaint."

"Tenzin, can I talk to you?" Pema asked from the kitchen doorway looking a little distressed.

"Sorry. I didn't realize Bumi invited all of these people," Tenzin apologized.

"Don't worry about it Pema, sorry to burden you so much already. Zumzu, Kya, Bumi, would you guys be interested in seeing the estate? We've added two wings since you last came so there's plenty of space. There is also an arena now where we can all spar like in the good old days. AND we won't have to worry about not damaging ancient artifacts since most of it is metal and dirt that can rebuilt instantly," Lin told the group.

"Oh and I'm not invited?" Suyin asked standing up.

"You've seen it already and we don't want you!" Lin replied with narrow eyes. Su stuck her tongue out at Lin like a juvenile and Lin flipped her off while the airbender children gasped while the Beifong Children just laughed.

"Some things never change!" Izumi sighed shaking her head.

"Oh. Children, my kids, who whomever doesn't know yet, this is Prince Iroh and Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation." Lin said to the two beautifully dressed Fire Nation warriors accompanying Izumi.

"But since we aren't here on 'official business', you can forgo the titles," Izumi added with a smile. "Call me Aunt Zumi!"

"It's an honor to finally meet you two!" HungJian said standing up to bow to Iroh and Ursa.

"Now I know these three," Izumi said waving off HuiFan, Jiexue, and Xiaoyu. "But these girls!" She turned to the airbenders dressed in traditional clothes. "This must be Opal Beifong and these little ones, Tenzin they're yours, am I correct? I remember reading about you in the newspapers, Jinora and Ikki, but where are Meelo and Rohan?" Izumi asked.

"Meelo is in time out because he can't behave and Rohan is with an air acolyte." Ikki answered quickly.

Izumi glanced at Suyin, Lin and Kya.

"Well, we should probably move to Lin's place then. I don't want to continue to overwhelm Pema." Izumi turned and whacked Bumi. "You know none of us like surprises!" She yelled.

"Kya does!" Bumi replied with his hands up.

Izumi rolled her eyes as Lin, Kya, Suyin, and Tenzin and their children all laughed. Only Pema still looked like a antelope-deer caught in the line of fire, completely overwhelmed.

"Daddy, can we go too?" Ikki begged her dad. Tenzin turned to Pema.

"You guys are welcome to come!" Lin said to the little ones. She looked up. "And you, Pema. You deserve a break from all this— everything. Come kick your feet up and enjoy a cool glass of watermelon juice at least." Lin told her politely. It was for the children.

Finally, they all headed out, some by bison and some by ferry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a reply if you have time. I would love to hear your feedback!


	10. The Arena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't tell if this chapter is complete shit or not. Let me know in the comments what you think!

Lin drove with her earthbending children while her three airbenders flew with their gliders. Tenzin flew over with Kya, Bumi, and Pema, Meelo, and Ikki on Oogi's back while the Fire Nation royal family rode with Jinora on Pepper. Opal took her family on Juicy.

They all walked on.

"Jiexue, can you give everyone a tour while I talk to the staff?" Lin said once they all arrived at the massive cherry wood gates with a giant board with the flying boar carved into it and filled with gold hanging in the arch way. Two guards swung the great doors open revealing a massive courtyard with a driveway that wound up to the front of the first building and wrapped around a fountain with a statue of two badgermoles sitting side by side in the mouth of a cave behind a waterfall.

While Kya worked on subduing some of the turmoil in HuiFan's head, Lin went around mobilizing house staff to prepare rooms for the guests and begin meal preparations for lunch and dinner. She sent some staff to venture into the city with surplus supplies just in case, then she called in off duty guards just for extra security along the perimeter and the tunnels under ground since she did have the Firelord among her guests.

"So this is just the front courtyard. It is not much, but it works. There's the garage where all of our cars are stored, and this man is our valet, Luong who maintains the cars, readies them, puts them away, washes them after every use, etc."

"How many cars do you have?" Meelo asked.

"One for each of us, two antique police vehicles and four for use by the house staff," Jiexue answered. Just then the garage rolled up and three cars backed out while everyone stepped back. "Where are you off to, Mrs. Ge?"

"Grocery shopping for lunch and supper. The Lady asked specifically for elephant koi, unagi, and practically a half ton of sea kumquats. I expect she's planning some watertribe dish for tonight-" the woman driving the car replied.

"She does like cooking water tribe for special occasions!" Jiexue smiled. "Have a good time!"

"Will do!" the maid said driving away.

Pema felt drastically out of place walking on Lin's property. She was envious of the luxury, the excess. She never had it herself even when she lived in the remote earth kingdom village that she pretended never existed, and the culture of the Air Nomads revolved around freeing one of earthly tethers, and letting go of physical possessions. They were supposed to live only on what was essential.

There were images of badgermoles and even sky bisons hidden everywhere in the architectural design of the facade of the first building. It was shaped like a square with a court yard right in the middle and a single hallway flanked by rooms throughout the square building. "This is the saff's quarters. Offices and communication rooms are up front and then their housing is all around."

"What staff do you need for a house?" Ikki asked.

"Not all houses need staff, but ours has maids, cooks, gardeners, and guards. The guards make up the bulk of the estate's employees, and I think the gardeners are the second biggest group. We also have a resident healer if any of you guys do anything stupid. Now for the house!" Jiexue said as two valets opened the doors to the next building beyond a second courtyard.

There was a grand entry way with two stairways flanking the entrance leading upstairs to a balcony. Beyond the entrance was a ballroom and several hallways. Jiexue lead them through the residential wing and the library and the atrium, the large living room, drawing room, reception room, parlor, game room, study, kitchen, family dining room, formal dining room, and the ballroom. Then they went out back to the gardens.

"Now flowers are flowers. The real fun is down here!" Jiexue said pointing at the circular stone in the center of the patio in the shape of an airbending hexagon. HungJian stepped forward and earthbent the entrance open and they all followed Jiexue down a set of stairs under the garden.

"Here are our training rooms, there are two of them: one for earth and one for air." They opened air first.

"There's where we play airball, there are the tuning gates, there is where we do forms..." Jiexue said pointing. "And there we spar."

"Question!" Ikki asked raising her hand.

"Yes Ikki?"

"Where do you meditate?"

"We meditate at the peak of the highest mountain in Republic City Mountain range every morning from 6AM to 7:30. You should join us sometimes!" Jiexue said.

"Why there?"

"So we can feel the wind and air all around us hear all of the life that surrounds." Jiexue replied.

"Daddy, why do you make us meditate inside the temple where we can't feel the air?" Ikki asked.

"Enough questions, Ikki, let Jiexue finish the tour!" Tenzin snapped.

"There's where we spar, There's where we play power disc, there is where train accuracy, knife throwing and shit, and there are the weights Mom makes us lift without bending," KungJian explained the earthbending room.

"This is our favorite room in the entire estate!" Jiexue said walking towards the set of large double doors at the end of the hall. It had the giant earth kingdom symbol but instead of one or three swirls. it had a quartered circle with all four elements. "Welcome, to the arena."

The Arena was a massive space with a rectangular sparring ground with a filled moat around it and sixteen giant pots equally spaced around the perimeter with blazing fires burning in them. In the center of the arena, there was the same earth symbol with the four elements in the middle.

"We can do anything here!" Wing and Wei gasped looking around.

"Woah!" Jinora and Meelo gasped as they entered.

"Hey I think my bending is back!" Wei said wiggling his toes, feeling the ground beneath his feet again.

Some how, Ursa and Iroh decided to spar wing and Wei, fire against earth while everyone else took a seat on the stone bleachers along the long side of the rectangular arena.

"No lightening down here, please!" Izumi reminded her children. "I don't want the place caving in.

"If we cant use lightening, then they can't use metal!" Ursa yelled blowing blue fire.

"Fair enough!" Wei said punching a rock right at Ursa's stomach.

"You just hit a princess!" Wing gasped.

"She can handle it," Izumi said with her arms folded as Ursa recovered and knocked Wei into the water surrounding the arena with one kick and fire blast.

Suyin gasped seeing her twins defeated so easily for the second time in a day, and Izumi smiled.

"I think Su is mad," Ikki whispered to Jinora.

"Wei and Wing were the best in their age group in Zaofu," Opal exclaimed to the two airbenders.

"I think it hurts her to see them lose," Tenzin said to them, leaning back on his bench.

"That's it!" Suyin said getting up. "You and me, Zumi! I must regain my family's honor!"

"Yep, she's mad," Opal said relaxing a bit. "I'm so glad I am an airbender. My mom can be kind of crazy with it comes to their earth and metalbending training."

"Probably gets it from Toph," Tenzin replied.

"Think I don't know about honor? I was raised by Fire Lord Zuko!" Izumi said standing up and circling her arms and stretching her back, ready to face her old friend.

"Should we go?" Iroh asked his mom nervously.

"Yes, I got this. Little Suyi's got nothing on me," Izumi said tearing off her cloak, burning it to ash right there, so she was just in a crimson dress and darker red bloomers and leather boots.

Izumi was the first to strike and went straight for lightning.

"Hey you told us no lightening!" Ursa whined.

"I can control mine!" Izumi said shooting another bolt at Suyin rolled out of the way and snuck a piece of metal towards Izumi's ankle but the fire lord was quick and did a back flip landing just on her toe as Suyin tore up the ground of the arena. Izumi just jumped and using fire from her feet as thrusters, and flew around the fancy earth bender. It seemed a pretty even and heated match.

"What the flameo is going on in here?" Lin asked arriving with Kya and HuiFan.

"Fire!" Jinora said.

"And Earth!" Ikki added, both of them glued on the match going down before them

"Did Wing and Wei lose again?" HuiFan asked sitting next to JieXue.

"How could you tell?" Jinora asked.

"Aunt Su doesn't seem like the type to just take the 'L', you should have seen the letters she has sent Mom throughout the years!" HuiFan said.

"HuiFan, remember those are confidential!" Lin snapped, jabbing her daughter's arm.

"Yes, Mom!" HuiFan sighed.

"Go Mom!" Iroh and Ursa cheered as Izumi appeared to get the upper hand.

"FIRE LORD! FIRE LORD!" the airbenders yelled while the Beifongs held their breaths.

"Suyi! Stop trying to be fancy! You're an earthbender, get your head out of the clouds!" Lin yelled over all of them.

Suyin dove into the ground and disappeared from sight.

"Where did you go," Izumi snarled turning around. Suyin appeared right behind her and shoved the Firelord into the dirt and laughed. Izumi tackled her and soon they were grappling, too close for either to bend their elements. After a few seconds, they broke free and both attacked with so much force that they were both shot back into the water moat with a grunt.

"It's a tie!" Kya and Bumi yelled as the two middle aged women got up and climbed out of the moat which came up to their waists in water. Kya bent the water off of both of them once they made their way back to the seats.

"Who is next?" Izumi asked fanning herself, taking a glass of water from the Butler.

"Lin, Tenzin, you guys should go. Stay in shape in case another equalist uprising comes or something," Kya suggested.

"Kya, I'm not warmed up!" Tenzin replied nervously.

"Nobody is ever ready up for battle." Izumi replied taking a minute to regain her breath. "You just do it."

"Got that right," Lin replied with a scoff, folding her arms.

Pema let out a sigh of relief. There was something about the idea of Tenzin sparring with his ex-wife or girlfriend that she found unsettling for some reason. She saw Kya beckon Lin, Izumi, Suyin, Tenzin, and Bumi close then whisper something that was too quiet for Pema to hear from the top row of the bleachers.

"I'M NOT SCARED OF HER!" Tenzin yelled, his entire head, minus his arrow, turning redder than a tomato as the adults and children broke out in an irrepressible laughter. "Not anymore," he looked down at Lin with an expression Pema didn't recognize, as she smiled back up at him, another expression she didn't remember the Chief of Police ever making before. Pema wanted to protest whatever was going to happen next, but at the same time, was afraid of the mass of powerful benders all high with the urge to kick each other's asses. Pema shrunk back cradling three year old Rohan, not wanting him to get caught in the cross fire of these epic battles the benders called sparring.

Tenzin walked down to the ground level and took off his red cloak. It made sense, since the cloak inhibited movement, then he proceeded to remove his sash.

"WOHOOO!" Ikki, jinora, and Meelo cheered as their father removed his robes as well, standing in only his pants and shoes.

"GO DAD!" Lin's children yelled. Lin was wearing casual green clothes for a lady. She shed three layers so she was in a tan sleeveless shirt with Center clasps and green caprees with bare feet. No metal on her.

"What, trying to distract her, Tenten?" Suyin teased.

"Shut up, Su!" Lin yelled irritably, flicking a pebble at her sister's head.

Neither wanted to make the first move at first, then Tenzin charged on his air scooter.

"Seems like the eaerth bender's head-on attitude has rubbed off on you, a little bit, Tenten!" Izumi yelled.

"Shut up, Zumi!" Tenzin said breaking to blast air in the Fire Lord's face, ruining her hair.

Lin made a rugged ramp away from herself to try to throw him off but he just bounced off of it and rode over it. She shot a pillar up and he just went with it flipping in the air so his feet reached the ceiling first then with a gust of air, dove straight at her. She disappeared into the ground and he had to use airbending to decelerate before he smashed head first into the dirt.

 _Light on your feet. Light, she could be anywhere!_ Then he felt the jab in the bottom of his foot and fell backwards landing with a thud as Lin reappeared. He swept her off her feet with a windmill then blasted her back, but she found her feet again and made a wall behind him. He charged again.

"Tenzin's become quite head-on for an airbender," Izumi commented to Su.

"I think because he and Lin spent so much time together growing up, now they've become opposites of what they used to be. I mean, look how flighty she's becoming!" Suyin replied with a sneer.

Lin was the one dancing around and Tenzin was on the offensive. Finally, he got behind her. She trapped his foot and elbowed him he freed his foot with great effort and tackled her.

Pema covered his eyes.

"Baldy!" She yelled at him.

"Baby!" he said trying to punch her face but she moved, so he only punched the earth.

"Chrome dome!" she said ensnaring his neck into the crook of her elbow

"Brick face!" he replied locking his legs around her waist, crushing her lungs.

"Airhead!" She said bucking him off of her, and rolling out from under, then kicking a pillar out of the ground beside her, sending him into the ceiling. He fell down with a light fall as she rolled onto her feet. Both persons were glistening with sweat, but neither were ready to forfeit.

They went on for at least four minutes, evenly matched. Finally, they were facing each other again. Lin tried to trap his entire body in earth but he made an air sphere and broke the four triangles from the platform of the arena, one flying into the audience. Su stood up and blocked it from hurting anybody then sat back down to watch the fight.

"How can they last so long?" Jinora asked.

"And be so evenly matched?" Opal asked.

"They know each other VERY well." Kya replied licking her lips.

"Hey Su, looks like someone's getting a little hot," Izumi said glancing over at a growing lump in Tenzin's pants.

Suyin cupped her hands over her mouth to suppress her outcry of laughter.

Lin and Tenzin moved so fast, hoping the children didn't see it. But Tenzin became more and more aggressive for an airbender. Eventually, Lin shelled up in a rock sphere to protect herself from Tenzin's air blasts. She waited until he tired at least a little, then punched an earthen glove at him, grabbing his arm and flinging him into the water. Kya and Bumi rushed to his side, Kya to bend the water off of him and Bumi to hide his brother from view as they rushed him into the hallway to find a bathroom.

"What's happened? Did I hurt him?" Lin asked with a confused, and genuinely concerned expression on her face..

"He's fine!" Izumi said stepping in front of Lin to keep her from following him, putting an arm on the Police Chief's shoulder.

"DADDY! WHY DO YOU HAVE A LUMP IN YOUR P—" Ikki screamed as HuiFan, Jinora, and Opal all threw their arms over her mouth.

Pema looked over at Tenzin, shocked then back to Lin who looked thoroughly confused.

"What-" Lin asked Izumi.

"He was getting the hots for you during the fight and probably would have wet his pants if you continued." Izumi whispered. Lin turned to her horrified.

"I think somebody still loves you, Suyin whispered throwing a cool towel over her sweaty, panting sister.

"But his wife is here!"

Pema nodded.

"But YOU are here, and if he'd known Jiexue and Xiaoyu were airbenders, we ALL know he never would have left you," he loves you Lin," Suyin whispered.

"Enough!" Lin decided. "It was just the battle." Lin said sitting down with a heavy thud, her hands denting the stone bench as she gripped it tersely.

"You really are thick when it comes to noticing that people still love you," Suyin said sitting next to he as the kids argued over who would fight who next.

"Su, why don't YOU go spar with my daughter. Why doesn't one person from each nation spar HuiFan at the same time?"

"You must have really high confidence in her," Suyin said.

"I do. Su, you go. I gave you a long enough break," Lin said grumpily as Izumi put an arm over her.

Jinora, Suyin, Ursa, and Kya when she returned all surrounded HuiFan. HuiFan punched the ground trying to send them all into the ceiling but they all jumped. Both Ursa and Jinora got off the ground as soon as possible with fire thrusters, and an air scooter. Suyin danced to avoid the metal and Kya froze the metal in ice and sent it back. HuiFan was fast.

She got Ursa our first by snapping a metal strip around her ankle and throwing. Then she got Kya out with a rock glove. Both Jinora and Suyin were the hardest to track since Suyin seemed to know exactly what HuiFan would try to do both with metal and without. Jinora never touched the ground which infuriated her.

Finally she trapped Jinora in a rock box that she wouldn't be able to jump out of and then pushed one wall and opened the other to throw Jinora into the water. Then Su.

They had the same fighting stance as they paced around each other.

Then Su shot a dozen metal strips at HuiFan who blocked them with a rock wall then threw the wall at Suyin. She tried to move closer.

"To chi block me, my dear niece?" Suyin asked grabbing HuiFan's arm behind the shoulder as she lunged flipping her over. Then they engaged in fist to fist combat until HuiFan broke her aunt's stance. She jumped and Suyin threw a boulder up at the girl mid flight sending her flying onto her back. But she was still in the arena. HuiFan did a kip up and liquefied the earth beneath her into a wave and sailed around Suyin jumping over various projectiles and finally? Tackling her aunt, diving into her stomach with both arms around her waist then straddling her aunt's hips. Suyin tried to buck the girl off but it didn't work so she grabbed the girl's arm and they rolled. Then Suyin pulled and got her niece in an arm bar until she tapped out.

And HuiFan never tapped out. Never lost.

"I think you just redeemed the honor that your sons lost," Lin commented.

"You've trained her well," Suyin nodded.

Lin smiled.

"At least you didn't get upset when I lost like somebody would," HuiFan said glancing over at Suyin.

"I don't get upset when someone in my family loses!" Suyin shrieked. Everyone just laughed.

"Lunch will be ready in the garden in precisely fifteen minutes," the Butler announced entering the arena, before departing quickly again.

"Let's go get cleaned up, shall we?" Lin asked as Bumi returned alone.

"Where's Tenzin?" Lin asked Bumi.

"It appears someone had to fly back to Air Temple Island for a _couple_ of clean pairs of pants." Bumi replied smirking at Lin who just frowned and punched him in the chest as Suyin, Izumi, and Kya cackled with laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep! I think this chapter went to shit.


	11. Tension

Pema walked at the back of the group. Servants came into the arena and leveled it out, swept the water back into the flowing triumphs, out out the fires, and sweep the ground of loose dust.

The garden was absolutely lovely

There was a table set for eight for the adults, Baatar Sr. Suyin, Lin, Izumi, Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, and Pema. Then there were two other tables for the children, Baatar Jr, Huan, Opal, Wing Wei, HungJian, HuiFan, JinKun, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, Kang, Iroh, Ursa, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan.

Lunch was served family style with all of the dishes placed in the center of the table for everyone to help themselves and pass around the dishes. It was filled with laughter and love. The children all interviewed each other on their lifestyles in Zaofu, Republic City, and the Fire Nation Capital. What was it like to be a royal or the children of a matriarch or chief of police.

At the adults table, they talked about what they missed from their childhood. They talked about Katara's cooking and Toph's inability to cook anything but a decent cup of coffee. They recounted the time when Lin and Tenzin learned how to make fruit cakes from Aang. They talked about the turning gates in the underground training room for Lin's airbenders.

"Doesn't the metal hurt more when you hit it than the light balsa wood?"

"Makes you more motivated not to misstep!" Lin replied raising her glass with an eyebrow at Tenzin who smiled while the others laughed and Pema picked her food silently.

They listened to Suyin's dramatized felling of her time in the circus and on pirate ships.

"I can't believe you had half the Terra triad after you, four of the biggest pirating groups, and three different ringmasters after you got something or other at one point!" Kya laughed.

"How'd you escape them?" Lin asked.

"I used a fake name with all of them, and cut my hair. It's amazing how daft most of them are," suyin explained.

After lunch, they sat back as servants cleared the tables then the Butler returned for after-meal tea.

"Children it has been decided that we will dress formally for dinner in the ballroom tonight for Princess Ursa's birthday!" Lin said to the two kids tables.

"Mom! You said you wouldn't tell!" Ursa yelled.

"Aunt Kya remembered, My love! I am sorry," Izumi replied shrugging.

"I never miss up an occasion to celebrate! It will be fun."

"Mum, do we have any obligations until then?" Hung Jian asked.

"Not from me, no. Spend time with your cousins and siblings."

"Mom, will you choose our outfits?" Jiexue asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because it's a bother,"

"I'll choose only if you want me to. I'm sure Su and Zum would love to help me since according to them I'm fashionably challenged," she said turning back towards the two.

"I can help too!" Kya exclaimed.

"Nah ah! I'm not going to let you dress my nieces in polar bear furs!" Suyin said putting a hand up.

"Well you're all free after you finish your tea. If you break something, fix it, or find someone to fix it," Lin told the children before returning to the adults table.

"Pema, would you care to join me for a stroll through the gardens?" Tenzin asked her. It seemed like the first words he spoke to her since they arrived at the Beifong Estate.

"I'm sorry, it must be hard for you,"

"To be surrounded by all of your 'old friends'? Or to see you get an erection while sparring with your ex girlfriend with whom you just happened to have six children with and not tell me until a few days ago."

"You didn't seem too upset about that a few days ago."

"Maybe because then I felt bad that your daughter missed you so much that she was suicidal, but ever since this 'reunion' it appears your loyalty has been wavering."

"Its not! It is just a game-"

"But even Ikki noticed your little-"

"That I couldn't control. It happens when the adrenaline-"

"You're so full of it, Tenzin!"

He sighed. "I didn't ask you out here to just get lectured. I hoped we could just talk. It feels like we never get to talk these days with you always busy with Rohan and the house and me busy with the new airbenders. I wanted to take some time here in the garden to get to know you," Tenzin explained.

"I should be trying to get to know you and this secret life! Why didn't you tell me you had this life with Beifong?"

You knew we dated. You're the one who tore us apart when you told the White-Lotus-"

"That was my fault? I can't believe you!"

"You haven't been this unreasonably jealous in sixteen years!"

"I'm being unreasonable?! How can you still be after that selfish, insensitive- heartless killer!"

"Selfish?! How can YOU be so blinded? She's protected our children better than you ever could. She selflessly protects an entire city. She sacrificed her bending for us and you have the audacity to call her selfish? Even after I left her for you, she still loved me and did everything in her power to keep me AND you from harm because she thought I loved you too."

"Well do you?"

"Seeing you acting this way, I'm not so sure anymore,"

Pema threw her hands up with exasperation.

"I'm going back to Air Temple Island and I'm bringing MY children with me!"

"Pema, don't do this! The kids are having fun. Don't you want them to be happy?" Tenzin asked.

"They can have fun on Air Temple Island, AWAY from the Beifong Estate!" Pema replied marching towards the entrance to the training spaces below.

The kids were in the middle of a game of airball with their half siblings.

"Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, get over here now! We're going home!" Pema ordered.

"Mom's never been mad before," Jinora whispered to Opal, not getting off the airball court posts.

"Hurry up!" Pema yelled impatiently.

"What's happening Daddy?" Ikki asked looking up to her Dad with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry sweetie!" Tenzin shrugged.

"I don't want to go home! We don't even have airball at home!" Meelo said stomping his feet and folding his arms in protest.

"Yeah! Me neither!" Ikki added. We haven't played airball since three years ago when we went on vacation at the southern air temple! Rooting herself on the spot, Ikki folded her arms and yelled, "I won't go!"

"Don't make me come over there!" Pema scolded walking towards them.

"What are you going to do? Force us?" Ikki asked raising her hands defiantly, ready to airbend her mother into the wall.

"Ikki! That's enough! Pema is your mother and you must respect her wishes. If she wants to take you home, you must go." Huifan said firmly.

Ikki turned to her half sister and sighed before walking towards her mother followed by Jinora and Meelo.

"But we'll miss Ursa's birthday party!" Jinora said.

"She'll have another one next year, I'm sure!" Pema replied walking them out.

"Is something wrong?" Lin asked innocently appearing with Kya and Izumi while Su remained upstairs.

"We're leaving!" Pema growled.

"Will you be back in time for the party?" Izumi asked. "Ursa doesn't have many friends in the Fire Nation or anywhere for that matter, and I wanted to her to enjoy this evening." Izumi said.

"Maybe," Pema growled.

"Well then do you need a car to get back to the docks? I can have my valet Luong prepare one for you and arrange a driver,"

"I don't need anything else from you!" Pema barked at Lin.

Lin turned to Tenzin.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" She yelled at him once Pema was gone.

"I didn't do anything!" Tenzin replied.

"We all know that's a lie, Councilman Baldy!"

"She called you a selfish, insensitive, heartless killer!" Tenzin explained.

Lin rubbed the bridge of her nose with frustration.

"I couldn't let that slide!"

"Maybe we should have stayed in the shadows!" Lin sighed rubbing her temples.

"No! It was good for the kids to meet their half siblings!" Tenzin argued.

"But at what cost, Tenzin? I don't want them to get hurt. If Pema gets all angsty, it could rub off on those sweet children of hers and ruin them," Lin replied.

"I think they're stronger than that. Pema will get over this-"

"No she won't! Tenzin you MARRIED HER! Go with her and make things right! Go fall on your knees and convince her of your loyalty! Tell her you love her-" Lin said throwing Tenzin out of her house.

"But do I really? Lin, if I knew Jiexue-"

"It shouldn't have mattered! You made your choice sixteen years ago! Now you have to live with the consequences!" Lin said slamming the door in his face.

* * *

Back up stairs, Lin returned her attention to all of the green and black clothes Suyin had pulled out of HuiFan's wardrobe.

"The airbenders are easy to dress. I always have the most trouble and most fun with HuiFan. She's not limited by simplicity," Lin said looking at all of the dress robes, headbands, and necklaces.

They chose the dress and hung it on a mannequin then tried all different arm bands and headbands and necklaces and fashioned some new ones from the the drawers of silver and gold.

"Girl, you have spools of solid gold wire?" Suyin asked holding up another treasure from the twenty three year old's dresser.

"We can afford it," Lin shrugged as she bent the gold thread right off the spool Suyin was holding and into the seams of the dress for color.

Izumi liked watching them. "I always liked earth kingdom fashion."

"Me too," Kya said sitting back on the bed.

Finally, the girls all came up from an afternoon in the arena to bathe and get ready.

"Why are ALL of you in here?" HuiFan asked seeing all four older women in her bedroom, admiring the outfit her aunts assembled on the mannequin.

"Because you don't come from a culture with a uniform for daily wear," Lin replied simply, bending another section into the necklace. HuiFan sighed and went to one of the many bathrooms to shower.

Kya bent all of the water from her hair then went to help the other girls and Izumi went to help her own daughter while Lin and Suyin stayed with HuiFan.

"Ow-" HuiFan hated it when her mother helped her dress. "It's tight."

"It's supposed to be, do you know what my mother did for my first public formal appearance?" Lin asked.

"What?" HuiFan asked.

"A completely metal corset with some platinum ring around the waist that locked, so I couldn't escape unless I could compress either my hips or shoulders to be less than seventeen inches," Lin replied.

"She never did that with me!" Suyin said with her hands on her hips.

"You moved out before she could show off her little delinquent prodigy to the world," Lin replied sarcastically.

Suyin rolled her eyes.

After HuiFan had her bindings finished and her dress on and gold threaded, Lin went to check on her other daughters and sons. In Opal's room, Suyin helped Opal with her hair while Kya stayed behind to do HuiFan's.

It was an intimate little party with Ursa getting a birthday cake and a song from everyone followed by music and dancing.

"Would you like to dance?" Iroh asked HuiFan.

"Am I allowed to refuse, Prince Iroh?" HuiFan asked.

"If I say no, will you kill me?"

"It is likely," HuiFan replied with a smirk.

"Hey ladies, is it just me or do HuiFan and Iroh look very comfortable with each other," Kya asked putting an arm around Izumi and Lin.

"Oh please," Lin rolled her eyes, secretly digging one bare foot deeper into the ground to spy on her daughter as she made her way over towards the back door.

* * *

"You're really pretty, you know for an earthbender," Iroh said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just haven't been to the United Republic or the Earth Kingdom in a while, and every time I came, the earthbenders have all been these big, buff military like women. You're, different." Iroh said.

"I must have gotten that from my dad's side of the family Aunt Kya said I always did look like Grandma Katara when she was young."

"But you still have these brilliant green eyes," he said. "Would you like to go outside for some privacy and fresh air?" Iroh asked.

"Sure."

Lin was listening as she kept her gaze down. She dug her foot even deeper into the ground as her daufhter accompanied the prince into the garden.

"You're smiling Linny," Izumi said leaning forward.

"It would appear my little badgermoles is interested in your son, Izumi." Lin whispered.

"Well what do you think of that?" Izumi asked.

"Better him than anyone in the Agni Kai Triad," Lin replied gruffly.

The other ladies laughed.

* * *

"So did you kiss the fire prince?" Jiexue asked HuiFan that night.

"I did not, thank you very much! I'm not stupid to kiss the first boy to call me pretty! Well... 'pretty for an earth bender'" HuiFan replied hitting both her sisters before going to her own room to disrobe and get to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this chapter was also a piece of shit. But I wanted to squeeze in some Pemzin tension and some potential romance for our sad little earth prodigy that gets great joy out of kicking ass and doesn't care if you are royalty, because she is a fucking Beifong! :)))
> 
> Somewhere, some how, maybe the first time they go into the city, or maybe when they rebuild the air temples, or maybe when HuiFan and HungJian apply to Republic City's Police Dept, I want Mako to try hitting on HuiFan too, but not knowing who she is, or that she may or may not have a thing going on with the Prince of the Fucking Fire Nation. I mean Mako has probably heard about HuiFan from Korra (unless he is immersed in his police/detective duties and become's married to his job and acts like the unofficial son Lin had during her love affair with her job as Police Chief...) But he doesn't recognize her, just becomes kinda infatuated with her.
> 
> This is going to be a long story with a combination of shit chapters (Like this one and the previous one) and better chapters. (like the one with the letter)... Anyways, like always, leave your thoughts in the comments!


	12. The Beifongs' Offer

The next day, Tenzin returned to the Beifong Estate with his three children by glider.

The little ones seemed a little shaken but otherwise fine, losing all apprehension when their half siblings invited them down to the air training room for a game of airball.

"What happened with Pema?" Kya asked taking Tenzin out into the garden.

"She's jealous. She thinks I'm into Lin again," Tenzin sighed.

"Were you ever not 'Into Lin', seriously? Tenzin, stop fooling yourself. If you had the choice you'd still be with her now, but it's done and Pema's your wife so you need to be more gentle with her. Lin's Fine. She doesn't need anything or anyone now, and she has all of us! You made a commitment to Pema. You should follow through with it," Kya told him.

"Hey Tenzin!" Suyin called running out into the garden. "Lin and I were talking and now that Jiexue and Xiaoyu and Kang AND Opal are kind of part of the Air Nomads, we were wondering if we could do anything to help out now, you know as a family. People can't really complain that we are being partial to the Air Nomads from a political standpoint since our own children are directly involved. We could claim that we're just setting up security for their futures or something. Like building a school house, we could rebuild the Air Temples." Suyin said.

Tenzin was speechless. "That was- unexpected and... so sudden."

"Truth be told, we have been thinking about it for a few years now, ever since that Lavabender kind of destroyed all of the Northern Air Temple, then we could restore the others."

"But isn't that expensive? I don't want to-"

"Nonsense! Don't worry about it. When our grandfather passed a few years ago, he left us each quite a nice pile of gold, and Lin complete ownership of Earthen Fire Refineries, and-" Tenzin gagged.

Earthen Fire Refineries was the FIRST ever joint business venture between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation Citizens. It grew to over a hundred ore mines and over eighty metal refineries, and sixty metalwork factories and supplied all of the metal used by Cabbage Corp, Future Industries and the Fire Nation Army. So now, Lin Beifong practically owned the worlds' metal?

"It is just something for you to consider." Suyin said shrugging her shoulders.

"I- Thank you, Su," Tenzin said.

"No problem, Old Friend." Suyin said reaching up to pat his bald head before running back inside.

"God the Beifongs are... quite something..." Tenzin said taking a deep breath, burying his face in his hands while his big sister rubbed his back. "What was I thinking?! Reconciling with HuiFan and her siblings. I could never unite these two families without ... difficulties-"

"Lin doesn't get jealous anymore. She's much too proud for that, and her children have accepted the reason for your leaving. It is only Pema you need to worry about."

"And that is my problem. She's never been a jealous person before, but now she's kind of going crazy with these suspicions. She thinks I cheated on her with Lin when I haven't even seen Lin naked since before Kang was born let alone fucked her! It is ridiculous. And now I am questioning what I want!" Tenzin explained to his sister.

* * *

There was no contract, no conditions. All they asked for from Tenzin was a couple of photographs and scrolls with paintings of the Northern Air Temple. Baatar Sr. Baatar Jr, and Hung Jian got together to make mountains upon mountains of building plans. Huan and Jin Kun began making scaled drawings of the various murals they would paint on some of the chambers once completed, of ancient airbenders, sky bisons, and various rituals and inscriptions. HuiFan, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, and Opal worked together to sort out the logistics of the trip, how many people were coming, who was coming, how much food, water, etc.

"We cant take all of this stuff by bison!" Opal said looking at their growing list.

"Of course not. Mother's commissioned a custom airship. It also will have space for six bison if our Dad wants to bring his family." Xiaoyu replied.

"How are you going to get time off for this trip?" Tenzin asked Lin when she came to get her daughters from Air Temple Island.

"I'm retiring." Lin replied.

"WHAT?!"

She lifted one eyebrow at him.

"When did this happen?"

"It will happen tomorrow. My last day will be Friday."

"What? But don't you have to give two weeks and choose a successor and-"

"Mako will do well enough until they can find someone better to replace me,"

"And the two weeks?"

"Really, Tenzin. Do you think there is anyone in that station who can stop me from walking out?"

"You cannot just abandon your city."

"I am not abandoning it. I have already written the letter. They may continue to contact me for consultation in the event of some grand emergency, but I won't remain just to deal with petty theft, the occasional assault, and even rarer gang activity. After HuiFan nearly- left us, I realized just how important family is, and I want to travel with my children. The elders in the White Lotus are dead. We are officially free of their restrictions. I am older now, they are older. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo have already met them, so it won't be a surprise to anybody important if we show up in the papers,"

"Lin," Tenzin sighed.

"You can't change my mind. You have no say in my life anymore," Lin replied.

"I am not going to stop you. I think you're making the right decision. And I am so grateful for your generous offer to rebuild the Temples.

"Su's planning most of it. You should thank her-"

"But she wouldn't have gone out of her way if it weren't for you."

"She probably would have done it eventually, and I would. Tenzin, this isn't for you. Its for Jiexue, Opal, Xiaoyu, Kang... all the others? It is for the next generation that will need the space, to learn, to grow, to pave their own roads in this world," Lin said.

"Oh! Lin! I didn't realize you had come and you both are out here," Pema said awkwardly entering the courtyard with four year old Rohan on her hip.

"I was just leaving, Opal and Jinora are helping my girls planning the domestic logistics of our trip. I came just to pick them up," Lin explained.

"I didn't realize Jinora was so involved in this expedition," Pema commented.

"She saw the temple melt, and I guess she is just excited to see it return," Lin replied.

"I know, I was there." Pema growled.

"Look, I don't know what you think is going on here, but I can say it is honestly nothing." Lin said putting her hands up before walking away. She went straight to the classroom where the girls were packing up.

"Ready?"

"Coming!" Lin's three daughters all called. HuiFan and Jiexue hoisted the mailbags onto their shoulders and hugged Opal and Jinora goodbye before following their mother to the ferry.

"It is so strange now, being able to just take the ferry across the bay and drive through town," Xiaoyu said looking out on the water.

"It is funny. I always hated the ferry rides. I used to have to take it like four times a day. I couldn't earthbend on the ferry. It frustrated me. And on the stormy days, it was frightening." Lin replied.

"Wow!" The girls followed their mother off the docks to where Luong was waiting with a car to take them all home.

"We're back!" HuiFan called when they entered the house.

"MAA! Can I go with Aunt Su to Ba Sing Se?" HungJian asked immediately.

"Why?" Lin asked.

"Because there was an emergency and Aunt Su has to go, and I still have a lot of plans to work out with Bataar and Junior!"

"Mom, can I go to? I want to hang out with Huan! He said he'll teach me how to do sculpting with clay and metal?" Jin Kun asked.

Lin sighed. "Where's Su?"

"In the garden, having tea."

"Did you say it it was okay for the my boys to go with you?"

"Yes, I did. And Frankly, Lin I don't see why they can't-

"I didn't say that they can't.

"Jinkun is already twenty and HungJian is twenty three."

"I just wanted to make sure they wont be a nuisance, Your Majesty." Lin said bowing. Suyin turned to her sister.

"What did you just call me?" Suyin asked. She turned and flicked a metal strip off her arm to slap Lin on the arm as she laughed.

"I hate that fucking city. Next time Raiko asks me to do ANYTHING, I am going to tell him to suck his own dick!" Suyin sighed.

"Hey the less vacations you take here, the faster you can get shit done there and retire!" Lin replied.

"Or just walk out like you're doing on Friday."

"Or just walk out..." Lin shrugged.

"The boys will be safe with my family."

"Our family! We are all Beifongs!"

"Our family," Suyin smiled and looked out on the garden where some of the gardeners were pruning.

* * *

****  
So this is an Author's Note in the middle of the chapter... because I feel like the latter half of this chapter isn't really good and want to spare you of the terribleness. I wanted to include Korra and friends, even if briefly, and then instead of just jumping to the departure to the Northern Air Temple, I thought Lin should be invited to some honorary dinner in her honor as a thank you for her services to the city and the world. But she hates galas and a real thank you would have been to just let her go home in peace. But a lot can happen at a gala so I threw it in before the departure for the Northern Air Temple. Feel free to skip to the next chapter now. The rest of this one is just stuff between what happened above this note, and Friday evening.  


* * *

"Dinh, could you call the Future Industries Airfield of Republic City and rent us a dock for an hour to load up everything for next tuesday?" Lin asked the house secretary that managed appointments, mail subscriptions, taxes, and almost everything the family didn't want to deal with.

"Certainly."

* * *

Barely five minutes after entering the office, Asami Sato received a call to her direct line from some unknown number. "Hello, is this Asami Sato of Future Industries?"

"Yes, speaking,"

"My name is Dinh, and I am calling on behalf of the Lady, Lin Beifong regarding access to an airship dock,"

"Uh... I believe scheduling dock space is with a different department- wait. Lin Beifong?"

"Yes."

"She needs an airship dock?"

"For precisely an hour on Tuesday: from noon to one pm."

"Uh, I am sure we can accommodate that in the airfield schedule, um, may I ask how big the vessel is?"

"Approximately fifty two megatons,"

"That is a monster, okay. We will give you Dock 17 on the southern air field. It is the eastern most dock so there will be plenty of room to tie down."

"And the price?"

"Six thousand yuans,"

"Would you like that in gold ingots, cash, or wired directly to your bank, Miss. Sato?"

"Directly to the bank is just fine."

"Thank you for your time."

* * *

"Damn, Beifong has an airship?" Korra asked Asami, as they lay snuggled up against each other in the Sato Mansion.

"Yeah, and it is twice as big as the one we used when we went on tour searching for new airbenders," Asami said in astonishment, as she stroked her girlfriend's short hair, caressing her behind the ear.

"Where did she get it? I don't recall Cabbage Corp or Future Industries daring to make any airships that big,"

"We'll find out soon enough when it pulls into the airfield. We will be able to see the logo up close then." Asami replied as the two sat looking longingly into the fire place.

"Hey guys, you would not believe what happened at work today!" Mako yelled running into one of the peaceful, now dimly-lit drawing room in the Sato Mansion.

"What?" Korra asked lazily looking up at her lover.

"Beifong is retiring. She made me Chief until they can find someone better to take the position!"

"Wait, WHAT? Are you even ready for it? Do you even want that position? I am torn between congratulating you and just- WHAT?"

"She said her last day will be Friday, and the only way to make her stay a moment longer would be if someone were to arrest her."

"So she gave two weeks notice and said fuck the second week?" Korra asked.

"Basically!" Mako was beside himself.

"I wonder where she's going?" Asami thought aloud.

"Going?" Mako asked.

"Some secretary called today to rent an airship dock for next Tuesday. Apparently she is going on some trip,"

"She is probably bringing her children on some life-changing adventure."

"Wait! Beifong has kids?"

"I thought I told you this already! One of her daughters asked me to take her bending away, then almost killed herself." Korra sighed.

"No! You didn't-"

"Mako was working late that night."

"Riiiiiight..."

"I will never understand that woman!" Mako sighed.

* * *

The next day in the office, Lin received a letter from the City Council.

"What do they want now?!" She growled as she dramatically slit the top of the envelop open with the massive blade up her sleeve.

_Chief Lin Beifong is hereby invited to the commemoration gala honoring Chief Lin Beifong to take place Friday Evening, 6:30PM-12:30 AM at Republic City's City Hall ballroom._

_Signed:_

_President Raiko_

"Spirits! I swear I am going to kill them all!" Lin cursed tossing the invitation in the waste bin. _If I were only a fire bender..._ She thought. _Burning it would be so satisfying!_

* * *

That evening, she bid farewell to her sister, nephews, and niece, her two eldest sons, and the Fire Lord and her family.

"The house will be so quiet with everyone gone!" HuiFan said hugging Suyin.

"Don't worry, you still have your aunt Kya!" Kya said throwing an arm around the young woman.

"And we won't be back for long. We'll be at the party on Friday night at City Hall," Suyin said with a smirk, glancing over at Lin.

"What party?"

"Apparently, as soon as they received wind that your mother was retiring, they decided to throw a Ball in her honor." Izumi exclaimed.

"Can WE GO?!" Lin's six children asked simultaneously. She covered her ears.

"I am not even sure I want to go,"

"Mom would have wanted you to-" Suyin claimed.

"Mom fled to the swamp before anyone could even write a story about her in the paper." Lin replied. "I knew we should have booked the airship dock for Friday afternoon!"

* * *

The next day after work, Lin was bombarded by reporters from various news outlets from all over the United Republic of Nations, and the Earth Kingdom.

"Chief Beifong! What will you do with all of your free time?"

"Chief Beifong! Are you seeing anyone romantically?"

"Will you travel?"

"Will you move to Zaofu and rule the Metal Clan while your sister rules the Earth Kingdom?"

"Will you become chancellor of the Beifong Metalbending Academy?"

"Will you-" Lin stomped her foot making a wall straight down the middle of the crowd of reporters and journalists, and then split the wall, making an isle for herself to walk down in privacy, straight to Luong who was waiting in one of the cars to take Lin to the docks for the ferry to Air Temple Island.

"You did it!" Lin yelled at Tenzin when he met her on the docks on Air Temple Island.

"Did what?" Tenzin asked.

"Don't act innocent! You told Raiko and the council to throw the gala!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Raiko hates me, because I don't suck up to his ass, and he signed the invitation! AND I can tell when you're lying!" Lin yelled poking him in the chest before pushing right past him to go find her daughters on the island. Once she reached the main level of the island where most of the buildings were constructed, she jammed her foot into the ground and found her daughters down by the airbending gates.

"Is every thing ready to go?"

"Yep!" Jiexue said jumping out of the turning gates. "Oh! And Dad said we could go to your party!"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Lin turned around, bending a pillar up at his head stopping just under his chin.

"They said you'd think about it and I told them I'd be fine if they went." Tenzin replied. "I never explicitly said they CAN go."

"You really are a terrible liar." Lin sighed turning away from him. "Girls, let's go!" Lin barked dropping the pillar into the earth.

* * *

Finally, Friday afternoon came, and Lin packed up with little possessions she had in her office, a portrait of her mother, a potted bamboo plant, an orchid, a photograph she kept hidden in her desk drawer, and her first set of cables, and left the Police Headquarters for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is greatly appreciated. If you have any ideas on how I could fix this one, I would love to hear it because I kind of don't like the last half of this one.


	13. The Retirement Gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sighs happily. I had fun with this gala! :))) Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The gala was an extravagant affair. It seemed like anyone who ever had their name mentioned in the paper was in attendance. The guest list the City created included some very successful pro-benders, industrialists, investors, businessmen, the Avatar arrived with the CEO of Future Industries and their friends, Mako and Bolin. There were politicians and former police officers, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation generals, the chieftains from the Northern Water Tribe, the Fire Lord and her family, the Interim Earth Queen and her family, and the entire Air Nation in attendance at the City Gala celebrating the forty year career of the Chief of Police who was retiring at 57 years old.

Tenzin wore his best dress robes for the occasion while Pema helped each of their children into their formal robes.

"Mommy, why can't we wear dresses?" Ikki asked Pema as they entered the main ballroom.

"Beacuse Air Nomads don't wear dresses." Pema replied.

"But why?! Jiexue and Xiaoyu get to wear dresses!" Ikki exclaimed pointing across the hall.

There they were, four young Beifong women. The three airbenders weren't really wearing dresses, but long, flowing yellow robes with red sashes thrown over one shoulder like nuns, just without shaved heads. Jiexue's hair was mostly down compared to her usual folded loop braid, and Xiaoyu's hair was only braided away from her face and allowed to fall down her back in gentle waves. Opal simply clipped a lock of bangs out of her chin length hair and combed it over into a side part, then HuiFan, she was quite a sight. Instead of dark green and black like the people of Zaofu, she wore light green and golden cream silks like the upper class citizens in Gaoling. There was a belt of what looked like solid gold around her waist with silver lines pressed onto it. She had Golden rings on her skinny little bicepts and no visible weaponry. Half of her hair was gathered in a round, flat-ish Earth Kingdom bun, also secured with a golden ring while the rest of her hair flowed in gentle waves down her back. But she slouched and sat at the table with her knees spread.

"That's not very lady like," Jiexue commented.

HuiFan slammed her foot on the ground causing a slight tremor. "No one is under the table to be looking, so who cares?" HuiFan replied reaching for the bottle of cactus juice at the table.

"Your Mom let you come!" Ikki exclaimed running over, jumping on Jiexue's back, wrapping her arms around her half-sister's neck. HuiFan abandoned the thought of the cactus juice.

"Where is Aunt Lin? Jinora demanded immediately.

"Aunt Su got mad when she found out Mom wanted to come wearing her uniform." Xiaoyu exclaimed turning around to hug the excited little airbenders..

"Hey Councilman," HuiFan said standing up, bowing to Tenzin.

"Councilman?" Tenzin asked.

"Considering all that's been happening, Mom thought it would be best if I we didn't give the scheming elite anything to misinterpret quite yet." HuiFan explained, glancing at Pema.

"Right, that makes sense." Tenzin said sadly. Pema hid her displeasure.

"My goodness!" a voice said. behind them. HuiFan turned around, startled by the depth of the voice behind her. There was no mistaking the scar on the face of the ancient man standing before her.

"Fire Lord Zuko?"

"Former Fire Lord," Zuko corrected her. "My daughter has told me so much about you, HuiFan. She speaks very highly of your prowess with knives and stillettos, in addition to your metalbending, of course! And my goodness, you look like Katara when she was your age! Just paler like your mother," Zuko said warmly. HuiFan turned to Tenzin beaming.

"If you're eyes weren't green, I might have called you Katara by accident!" Zuko chuckled. "Tenzin," he said acknowledging the son of Aang.

"Uncle!" Tenzin said bowing to Zuko.

"I hear there will be an expedition to rebuild the Northern Air Temple," Zuko said.

"We've been helping with the preparations!" Jinora said appearing beside HuiFan, clinging to her arm.

HuiFan smiled.

"So you're all getting along, I take it?" Zuko asked.

"Yes! It is so much nicer now, ESPECIALLY when I get tired of JINORA! I have THREE other sisters to go to AND three brothers that aren't Meelo!" Ikki said jumping on HuiFan's back, latching her arms around the metalbender's neck.

"Hey!" Meelo yelled sticking his tongue out at her. Ikki stuck hers right back at Meelo. Tenzin just pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but didn't do anything to discipline his children, nor did Pema.

"Ikki, let her breathe." a new voice said in a gentle, yet firm tone. Lin Beifong joined them, gently prying Ikki off of her daughter's back. "You can't just jump on people at these events. And HuiFan, you can't let her." Lin reminded her daughter, fixing the girl's posture after setting the eleven year old down. "Remember what we discussed before we came?" Lin whispered.

"Yes, Mother," HuiFan said softly.

Lin Beifong was dressed equally as nice as her daughter, probably Su's doing, wearing darker green and brown silks with some gold and silver shimmer, and metal here, and there, but no rings accentuating her relaxed biceps; more suitable for an older earth kingdom lady.

"I told her if she wants to come to these events, she has to act like a lady. We are not home where she is the sole authority when I am away. She can go kick ass later, just not here," Lin explained with a smirk. "Go have fun, just no fucking tonight, and stay off the cactus juice," Lin said sending her away.

"But it's the quenchiest!" HuiFan said giggling.

"I wish Kya never told you that story about Uncle Sokka!" Lin said swatting HuiFan on the bottom.

"So, new CEO for Earthen Fire Refineries?" Zuko asked.

"Izumi is the worst at keeping secrets!" Lin growled.

Tenzin chuckled, and suddenly, Pema felt like she had faded to nothing more than a spiderfly on the wall.

"Don't worry, my daughter is plenty good at keeping secrets, just not from me when it comes to my good friend's little badgermoles!" Zuko reassured Lin.

"I can't believe you came all the way from the Fire Nation for a night!"

"It is a special night, Linny! I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Just like I wouldn't have missed your wedding if you had invited me!" Zuko said affectionately.

Lin looked up at Tenzin with an embarrassed smile, with a warm smile before returning to Zuko.

"You know the White Lotus ordered us to keep it small in case," she turned back to where Jiexue and Xiaoyu were sitting with Opal and now Bolin. "things didn't work out."

"I know. I was just teasing, Little Linny!" Zuko said patting her on the head as if she were a little girl again. "So how does it feel to retire? To not have to report to duty in the morning?"

"It seems a little surreal," Lin said.

"What was the reaction of your officers when you walked out a week early?"

"Mixed. Some of the rookies were celebrating, happy to be rid of the cranky old bitch always writing them up for misconduct, whereas my deputy chief and best detective looked absolutely devastated," Lin answered with a laugh.

"You always did enjoy scaring the rookies." Zuko said.

"They're SOOOO easy!" Lin snickered.

Just then there was a light tapping on Lin's arms. She turned around. A young page winced when she made eye contact with him. Her scars, probably.

"Um.. Forgive me for interrupting but," the page gulped. "President Raiko wanted to make a speech and was wondering if you would care to join him on stage."

"Of course. Give me precisely a minute," she said trying to ease his fears with an kind smile. He bowed and took a few steps back.

"It was so nice to see you again, Uncle!" Lin said bowing, before checking to make sure no one was looking and throwing her arms around the old man.

He patted her on the back.

"Ugh! It is just so beautiful seeing you kids growing up so nicely,"

"Uncle Zuko! You know how much my family despises tearbending!" Lin rolled her eyes when he started crying.

"Well I may be family, but I am no Beifong!" Zuko laughed.

"I will try to come back later,"

"Don't worry, about it, Linny. I can't take up your whole evening. Look at all of these people. Don't worry though, we can always write letters!"

* * *

Lin was pleasantly surprised by Raiko's surprisingly kind and thankfully concise summary of her career. She was shown the new glass display case in which her police chief uniform would reside in the new Republic City Police Force Museum, along with the plaque describing contributions to the city and the world. She was presented with a medal and honor of some sort that she didn't bother to remember the name of, and then tried to make a break from being the center of attention.

She was almost immediately surrounded by people whom she had never met before all prying for information on her private life, future plans, and history.

"We got you!" a voice whispered in her ear. _ZUMI!_

There was a rumble and several of the strangers stumbled, tripping over each other, dispersing quickly as Izumi, Suyin, and Bumi swooped in to surround Lin and shield her from onlookers as they retreated to a quiet corner of the room, practically behind the orchestra.

"We made a table for six in a corner," Bumi said proudly, throwing an arm over the Former Police Chief's shoulder enthusiastically.

"Made?" Lin asked.

"Apparently they wanted you to mingle and only had like four tables set up. They were all full so Su went ahead and- BAM! Additional table!" Bumi said indicating pointing to their white cloth covered table in the corner with six evenly-spaced round blocks erected around the table.

"You even found a table cover for it!" Lin said raising an eyebrow. "I'm impressed."

"They won't suspect a thing!" Suyin whispered deviously.

Tenzin was already at the table, guarding it with Kya.

"Where's your wife?" Lin asked Tenzin.

"Dealing with Rohan," Tenzin replied with a glass of sweet, sparkling cider.

"He's too young for these kinds of events," Lin commented.

"I agree but she insisted on bringing him." Tenzin replied.

"She likes being praised for 'saving the nation'," Izumi muttered.

"What was that?" Lin and Tenzin snarled.

"Nothing!" Izumi said taking a sip of diluted cactus juice.

"What about you, Su? Where's Bataar?" Kya asked.

"He and Junior didn't even come. They're both just so excited about the Northern Air Temple. They can barely afford to dine with us, let alone come to a six hour gala," Suyin explained with a wave of her hand.

"This thing is supposed to be six hours?!" Lin exclaimed in misery banging her head on the stone table, grateful that the stone dented, leaving her own head in tact.

"You threw away the invite didn't you?" Izumi asked.

"If I were you, I would have burned it."

Izumi laughed.

"Don't worry, Linny, we'll protect you from Republic City's Social Elite!" Bumi exclaimed smacking her on the back between the shoulder blades. She growled at the physical contact like an angry saber-tooth moose-lion woken early from its hibernation.

"How do you suppose to accomplish that considering I have become one of them with the inheritance of my grand-father's company." Lin grumbled shrinking away from Bumi. "You'd have to save me from myself."

* * *

HuiFan made her way through the crowded room as silently as possible. She was more curious than anything and didn't really feel like talking to anybody. She saw her sisters getting along nicely with some other new airbenders. She had to distance herself though. They'd discussed the strategy before coming. HungJian and JinKun easily found young women to keep them company during the party, with their good looks, and muscular arms. HuiFan was more uncertain. It was unusual for the bending prodigy to be nervous about anything. Then again, she only really ever trained, and ran the household. The most interaction she had outside her mother, siblings, and house staff were with her aunties, with whom she could be completely candid.

Here, she felt like she was walking on egg shells and immediately realized why her mother did everything in her power to avoid such galas. On the ride in, she spotted the statue of her grandmother, Toph Beifong on the front facade of the police building. THe statue alone stood five stories high on a fifteen story building that was the Police Headquarters. Only then did HuiFan realize just what it meant to be a Beifong. They weren't just descendents of the greatest earth bender in the world and founder of metalbending, but they were the descendents of a great Business man, Lao Beifong who started the FIRST EVER joint venture between Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation Citizens. Even before then, the Beifongs were old money in the Earth Kingdom.

HuiFan knew her mother proudly continued the work of Toph Beifong by protecting the city, but HuiFan didn't realize how central the city was to keeping the balance in the rest of the four nations of the world. Hearing the President list out all of her mother's heroic actions made HuiFan suddenly feel so small compared to her mother. She had to be careful with everything she did that evening for a single word could tarnish their good name, if people found out she were also a Beifong.

* * *

"Be careful, HuiFan. You are a member of one of the most prominent families in the world, but don't think I will allow you to ride on the coattails of mine or your grandmother or great grandfather's success. You must forge your own path and work to build your own name. But you also must be careful. A lot of men at these functions like to use pretty girls. You must be strong, unyielding, to protect them." her mother said, once she was dressed in the green and yellow layered silk dress with the mesh overlay, the thick belt, and metal accents, the flying boar stamped on both arm rings and her belt.

"Protect them?"

"If you let them too close, and they take advantage of you, I will destroy them. Even if I am not a firebender, I could rain flames down upon them with the power of a thousand suns to avenge you. If people find out who you are they may treat you differently and be artificially kind for your name, or for your money."

"Is that why you never remarried after Dad? You were worried no one would love you for who you are and just use you for your name and resources."

"Not completely, but it is one of the reasons. I didn't think I could trust anyone with the Beifong legacy and the grand children of the former Avatar," Lin replied.

* * *

_But I don't want to have a completely stone heart._ HuiFan thought aloud. She looked down at the food table, that boasted extravagant selections of cheeses, crackers, pastries, cold cut meats. Some luxury meats like smoked salmon and other things. There were vegetable skewers and drinks of varying potency.

I am old enough, she thought happily but stopped. _No. I won't betray mother's wishes like that, not tonight at least._ She was about to reach for something when a hand moved faster in front of her and she flinched back.

"Oh sorry! I didn't see-" the gentleman said nervously.

HuiFan looked up and saw a pair of tangerine-colored eyes gazing back at her.

"Oh! Hi! Sorry, I don't believe we've met! I'm Mako!" the young man said waiving then offering a nervous hand to her. She didn't notice it since her gaze was locked on his face.

"The temporary police chief?"

"You've done your research" He said nervously running his rejected hand through his hair, messing it up immediately. "And you are?"

"HuiFan," HuiFan replied. _No last name! No last name! No last name!_

"HuiFan, are you here with anybody?"

"I-" _my whole damn family! Why can't I think of a story?_ She looked around nervously. _Why is this so hard?_

"Forgive me. It just seems odd that you'd be by the food table all alone. You're such a- [beautiful young lady] sorry, I'll stop talking." Mako rambled bashfully.

"No don't stop talking. You're entertaining me- sorry that came out wrong!" She touched her hand to her head with embarrassment.

"My siblings are busy being annoying and I just thought I'd get away for a bit," HuiFan answered honestly.

"I know the feeling. My own brother can get a little wily sometimes. For a while I had to move out and find my own place just so I could focus on work and not have to deal with his antics."

She smiled. "So what bring a lovely lady like you to such a function? Are you an actress, or a pro-bender-"

"If I we're, wouldn't you have already heard of me?" HuiFan asked.

"I suppose," Mako said chuckling lightly.

"I'm just a metalbender-" _the best metabender in the world according to Aunt Su and my mother!_ HuiFan thought to herself. _Mother's mentioned Mako a couple times. She seems to think highly of him, but would SHE trust him with our identity?_

"You know I am a detective and I can tell you're withholding a lot from me, little lady!" Mako said bravely.

"I am a truth seer that can feel your erratic heartbeat. You're flirting with me-" HuiFan replied perfectly calmly. Mako nearly jumped out of his tuxedo with embarrassment as HuiFan burst out laughing. Some people nearby turned and looked at her, but she quickly stopped as she felt the metal on her arm pinch slightly to bring her back to reality. _What? Spying on me mom?! Or did I really laugh that loudly?_ She screamed internally.

"Forgive me," She said kicking off a shoe and kicking the ground, finding her mother in the room, and sending a shock through her mother's feet. Her mother sent one back that nearly knocked her over."

"Ugh! I hate her!" HuiFan exclaimed regaining her balance and reclaiming her shoe before Mako could touch her.

"Your sisters?"

"My mother... and my sisters... but never mind that- she was just mad because I was laughing too loudly."

"What's wrong with laughing loudly?"

I'm a Beifong and "it's not lady-like," HuiFan replied.

"Who cares?" Mako asked.

"My thoughts exactly!"

He's nice!

"Earlier I just wanted to say, you're very beautiful this evening— I mean I'm sure you're very beautiful all the time-" she turned to him and raised one incredibly sharp eyebrow that reminded him so much of BEIFONG! He almost gasped. _No! She can't be-_

"I'd sooner take a bath in quicksand than ever wear this dress again-" she said tugging at the belt, trying to breathe a little more freely. "I don't care about beauty or what people think of me. I know who I am."

"Is the belt hurting you?" Mako asked.

"Only a little," HuiFan replied honestly. She probably shouldn't be messing with it, but mom was far away. She wouldn't see.

"Can't you take it off? You are a metalbender," Mako suggested. HuiFan removed her hands and raised them up a little, splitting the belt into four pieces hovering around her waist. "It is the corset underneath. Mother says all the ladies in Ba Sing Se and Gaoling wear it. It is some really fucked up fashion if you ask me. But it's just for an evening. I told her I wanted to go to the party and she literally gave me a crash course on high society and made me dressed like a Lady. Sometimes I wonder if this is actually the way things are in courts and other functions, or if she just does it all to keep me from wanting to leave."

"Leave?"

"She can be, really protective, and this is my first time among... non-immediate family."

"Wow! I'm honored. Just know the entire world isn't like a lot of these," he whispered "pompous prats."

"I didn't think the quiet and reserved former Detective Mako held such bold opinions concerning his colleagues!" HuiFan replied with a smirk.

"Would you like to dance with me," Mako asked her offering a hand.

She hesitated. "I am not sure I know how- and earth benders aren't known for being very... graceful on their feet."

"I don't know. There's something about you that seems light, and flowy, almost like a leaf?"

_Fuck!_ HuiFan thought. _Can he tell she trained sometimes with her airbending sisters? Hopefully not. Maybe it is just the light silks she was wearing._

She learned very quickly and kind of enjoyed the dancing but wasn't quite sure what she was feeling.

* * *

"Opal! Look! Mako's dancing with some Earth Kingdom Girl!" Bolin exclaimed pointing at the dance floor.

"She's beautiful!" Asami breathed.

"Hey! I thought I was beautiful!" Korra cried, hitting Asami lightly on the arm.

"You are, but she is too! Look!" Asami said pointing

"Uh guys, that's my cousin." Opal told them.

"You're joking!" Korra said squinting.

"She asked you to take her bending away. Don't you remember HuiFan?"

"Holy fuck! I didn't recognize her in that dress!" Korra exclaimed. "And with her hair down and no spools of cables on her belt, and the long skirts."

"Lin let her come?" Bolin asked asked.

"Well actually, no but I told them the famous saying, 'If Mom says no, ask Dad', and so they asked Tenzin and he said they could!" Opal explained.

"And Beifong allowed it?!"

"Aunt Lin didn't feel like crushing their excitement."

"What about the potential scandal?"

"As long as you guys don't go blabbing about it to the press, it won't be an issue. My Mom and Aunt Lin have both had their fair share of slander appearing in the papers, they know how to deal with it, Beifong style," Opal said proudly.

"They actually look kind of cute together," Asami commented.

Mako must have done something wrong, because they all blinked once and before they knew it, there was a little cloud of dust on the floor, and HuiFan was standing alone in the middle of the dance floor looking around nervously before bolting looking angrier than ever, Mako nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no!" Opal said calmly.

"Did she just-" Korra began to say.

"Bury him? Yeah, most likely. Bolin, you should probably go dig up your brother," Opal suggested as HuiFan ran through the crowd, her speed limited by the long silk skirts.

Bolin ran to the spot they were standing and pulled Mako out of the ground, disrupting a bit of the marble, unable to put it back as cleanly as HuiFan did.

"Great! Now my new tux is all covered in dirt!" Mako groaned.

"What did you do to her to make you hate her so much already?" Bolin asked.

"I think I may have mentioned how I met Korra and Asami and how things with them didn't work out-" Mako said brushing himself off.

"Maybe you should take dating advice from me from now on, big bro," Bolin suggested leading his brother back to the table where he, Opal, Asami, and Korra had been sitting at, watching the people of Republic City's upper class mingle about superficial nothings.

* * *

"You buried him?!" Lin asked her daughter in the hallway.

"I didn't mean to! I just panicked. He was talking about how he met Asami and Korra and how things didn't work out and well- I got nervous!"

"Well that was stupid of him. Anyways. You shouldn't let his history bother you. Just because someone is your first crush, doesn't necessarily mean that you are his, okay? Your father and I were lucky to have so much time together, but that is not always the case. You don't have to panic. He did not even ask you to be his girlfriend. You two only just met what, fifteen minutes ago? Dance with his brother, dance with your own brother, talk to whomever. Remember after Ursa's birthday party?- Yes I was listening to you and your sister's talking.- You know you are smarter than to fall for the first boy who calls you pretty. Now, go apologize to the temporary police chief and offer to de-dirt his clothes for him. I doubt Bolin is skilled enough to get it cleaned sufficiently." Lin said to her daughter. "And remember! shoulders back, chin up!" Lin said sending her off again.

"Yes Mom!" HuiFan groaned returning to the party, while her mother returned to her secret table with her friends.

* * *

When HuiFan revealed herself again, Mako nearly jumped in his seat. "I am not here to bury you again. My emotions got the best of me. I am sorry. Can we call it a truce?" she asked.

He relaxed a little.

"I can get the dirt off your suit," She offered.

"Sure,"

She unfolded one arm and pulled and all of the dirt popped off of the fibers and out of all the pores in his clothing leaving him looking perfectly dashing in a tux straight from the cleaners.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a Beifong?" Mako asked.

HuiFan's heart skipped a beat then she saw Opal had told.

"Because honestly, I didn't know what that meant until coming here tonight, and I found it kind of intimidating. I didn't want to misrepresent my mother or my family. My grandmother was the best earthbender in the world and apparently prophesied I would take her place as that someday, but growing, I felt like I would never get the chance to prove it." HuiFan explained. "And I didn't know who I could trust with my identity."

"She kept you home?"

"There were circumstances outside of her control that put us all at very high risk of either being targeted by triads and held hostage, or being exiled from the city by some ancient secret society. So we had to stay home. Now, things are different," HuiFan said vaguely, looking across the room at the table where Lin and Tenzin sat with Suyin, Izumi, Bumi, and Kya.

"Well if you're up to it, would you like to try dancing again?"

"Sure."

* * *

While HuiFan and Mako danced, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo finally found their father's secret hide out and... "Aunt Lin! Now that you are retired, can you babysit us?" Meelo asked jumping into Lin's lap as Ikki and Jinora gave her a hug, all three of them running right past their father.

"Children, leave Lin alone!" Tenzin said picking Meelo up and off of Lin's lap. "And aren't you a little old to need babysitting? Just last year, you three managed to travel the world to find Korra and then traveled the Earth Kingdom to help remote villages! Did you even ask your mom?"

"Whenever we try to ask her anything, she always says she is busy with Rohan! She probably wouldn't even notice we were gone, but Lin! She never misses anything!" Meelo said sadly. Lin felt sorry for him. Even when she was covered in dirty towels and had screaming babies wailing toddlers, and warring children, she tried to give them all the time in the world, and answer all of their questions. She talked to each of them before bed and when they woke up, asked about their dreams and fears and supervised training sessions. To hear the neglect, hurt.

"Yeah! If she can keep an entire city in one piece, then she can do ANYTHING," Ikki added boldly.

Lin laughed.

"Since when have you been wanting to spend so much time with Lin?"

"Well ever since she gave up her bending for us, we realized she couldn't be that scary and actually started visiting," Ikki said.

"And it kind of increased when we found out about Jiexue a Xiaoyu and Kang being airbenders!"

"Well, I had been flying over every Friday for a new book and to discuss the old ones Aunt Lin let me borrow anyways," Jinora said.

"What?" Tenzin asked.

"Jinora likes reading and it turns out we have very similar tastes," Lin shrugged. "And I figured, the happier the children were, the less they'd bother you, and then you'd be happy." Lin said looking down at the energetic little airbenders. "And our kids were becoming too much like me, kind of jaded and cynical. So yours were refreshing."

"You kids have to ask YOUR mother first, then we will figure something out with Lin," Tenzin told the children.

"YAY! Okay!" the children cheered before Meelo ran off to find his mother.

"Aunt Lin! You look so pretty in your dress!" Jinora said sweetly.

"Thank you, Jinora," Lin replied.

"And HuiFan looks unrecognizable! Oh, and until Meelo comes back, can you teach US how to be ladies too?" Ikki asked jumping up and down, clapping her hands with excitement.

Fire Lord Izumi and Suyin nearly snorted.

"It is not always fun, you know," Fire Lord Izumi warned the two girls.

"And technically we're all setting a bad example and breaking the rules now by sitting only with our friends and not making rounds to talk to everybody," Suyin winked at the children.

"Only because we're old and seriously don't give a mole-rat's ass anymore!" Izumi said lifting a glass to her lips.

"But is is still a good thing to know, right?"

"I suppose so. Very well." Lin said pushing her glass away from her so it wouldn't get knocked over and turned to face Ikki specifically. "First lesson, Ikki, Stop jumping." Lin said putting her hands on Ikki's shoulders, gently bringing her back to the ground. "Straighten your spine, pull your shoulders back, chin up, think before you speak and be nice to everybody! Give other's a chance to breathe when you talk. Here, you can join us and practice." Lin said bending two stools out of the ground and moving everyone else tighter so that Jinora and Ikki could sit between her and Tenzin.

* * *

When Pema arrived, the table cloth had been folded over and six earth bowls had been bent out of the table top. Two for Suyin, Jinora, and Ikki.

"I don't understand how moving one grain of rice at a time from one bowl to the other helps one be Lady like!" Ikki said looking down at her rock bowl with frustration as another Little Rock grain of rice slipped from the rock chopsticks.

"Don't look down," Lin ordered lifting Ikki's chin with an index finger. As the other adults, including Tenzin giggles.

"But I have to see what I am doing!" Ikki protested.

"Look with your eyes not your head!" Izumi said. "Watch Aunt Su again."

Suyin kept her spine straight, shoulders back, chin high, and resting hand relaxing with the wrist leaning on the table so that her fellow diners could see she was not obviously concealing weapons. She had her chin high but her eyes down as she transferred the small rocks bent into the shape of rice, one grain at a time.

Ikki sighed in frustration.

"It just takes time, Little One!" Lin said resting her chin on Ikki's shoulder as Ikki kept her chin up and looked lazily down at her bowl as she kept trying. Only then did Pema realize Ikki was on Lin's lap.

Tenzin looked relaxed with his elbow on the table and his chin on his fist, watching his ex girlfriend interact with his children with his wife.

Kya sat with both arms folded leaning on the table, Izumi and Suyin both sat up straight, and Bumi had one hand on his hip and the other hand resting on the table as they watched.

"It's no use!" Ikki threw her chopsticks and Suyin caught it across the table with her earthbending before it hit Izumi as the adults laughed.

"Don't worry, Little One!" Lin said flicking her nose lightly. "It takes practice, as does everything."

"Hmph!" Ikki folded her arms.

"Relax! You're what? Eleven now?"

"Yes!"

"If you still can't do it in six years, then I will get worried."

"Huh?"

"Trust me, if you just sleep on it, let it sink in a bit and we can try again next time. You'll get it. And besides. It's not that important. The biggest thing to get out of it, is patience. A lot of being a young lady, believe it or not is sitting in silence while your parents handle business. My mother HATED it. Izumi's mother, Fire Lady Mai HATED it. All they did was sit in silence eating, in silence watching, in silence listening... don't worry. You're not missing out!"

"What's going on here?" Pema asked making her presence known, finally.

"The girls asked if we could teach them how to be little ladies," Lin replied.

"I am perfectly capable of teaching them manners on my own, thank you very much!" Pema said reaching for Ikki's hand, practically pulling Ikki off of Lin's lap."

"Having manners is not the same as being a lady as Suyin, Lin and I had to train to be." Izumi said.

"You weren't just a lady, you were a princess!" Suyin correctes her.

"More or less the same thing!" Izumi replied.

"Being a lady isn't just having manners. It has to do with the name or family, the prestige. The act of constantly having to act or behave a certain way to save the face of the family." Lin explained casually with Jinora still seated behind her left shoulder.

"Save face? I may not have been born a lady, but at least my children and I weren't born bastards," Pema replied.

The entire table froze. Lin stood up and looked at the Air Acolyte who stood a full four inches shorter. Pema didn't back down.

"You shouldn't have done that," Izumi said. Lin looked like she'd been slapped. She took one glance at Ikki by Pena's side, and then turned to Junora and without a word fled.

"Lin!" Tenzin called. "Su, can you get her kids home? Party's over. And Kya, can you make sure Pema and the kids get back Air Temple Island?"

"Will do-"

"He's going after her?" Pema asked.

"Come on!" Kya said turning Pema away.

"Wait!" Suyin said. She walked over and grabbed the collar of the air acolyte's robes as Ikki and Jinora gasped.

"Lin AND I for that matter, may be bastards, but individually, we still have ten times the honor, and class as you do. How dare you say such a thing in front of your YOUNG children!And for your information, Lin's children with Tenzin ARE legitimate." Suyin released Pema with a small shove then went to go round up her nieces and nephews.

"Pema, did I ever tell you what happened when I pushed a Beifong's buttons a little too many times in a week?" Bumi asked.

"Well, lets just say mom and I combined spent three weeks healing him," Kya said.

"You're taking her side?"

"She's just trying to be nice, Mom! I don't understand why you're getting mad! I thought you liked it when we made friends!" Jinora cried.

"It's not taking sides. We want to protect you. You married into this family, you married into all of us!" Bumi said with his hands up casually.

Izumi stood. "That was incredibly low!"

"Mommy, what is a bastard?" Ikki asked innocently.

"A bastard is a VERY bad word for someone who is born out of wedlock," jinora answered, casting a knowing glare at her mother before allowing her Aunt Kya to lead her from the hall.

Pema froze. Maybe she did overreact. Maybe it was all just fun and game at a fancy party. She felt a wave of guilt rush over her.

"Lin," Tenzin found Lin curled up behind the left foot of the statue of her mother on the face of the Police station.

"Go away-"

"Lin, I'm sorry for this evening."

"I said go!" She bent the metal to flick him out of the alcove. He hovered on an air sphere then flew back in, this time holding onto Toph's leg.

"Lin,"

"What does she think we are doing? What ARE we even doing? Everything was swell until the photograph resurfaced,"

"No, you were miserable before the photograph resurfaces. Children, civilians, and over half of the politicians in the world feared you."

"But then after HuiFan fell apart,"

"But she's better now and she liked her half siblings. I see her and Jinora, Jiexue and Xiaoyu and sometimes Opal spending hours together, planning."

"Yes the kids are happy and I'm glad! I want them to be. I have a half sister, and we've had plenty of rough patches, but the union of our children seems so seamless. But Pema- I'm just trying to be nice to her children and this is how she acts? What would she rather me do? Bury them in an avalanche every time I feel their frantic footsteps approaching? When will people learn I don't bite. I don't roar. I don't pick out little children's eyes and use it to garnish my dinner. I am human, I have feelings, and I HATE seeing kids neglected, as I was growing up. Toph," she touched the leg of the statue.

"Mom, was barely a mom, but considering how she was raised, she was a step up," Lin said. She rubbed her eyes. "I did everything I could for our children. I tried to teach them everything I know. To not hate, to understand that everyone is struggling with something others can't see. I did what I thought was best for our children!"

"I remember," Tenzin said sitting across from her, behind the other leg of the statue of Toph. "Even after the longest days and the longest nights, you gave them time, HuiFan to braid your hair, HungJian to recount all the magnificent adventures he had that day, JinKun to share his latest creation."

"What do you want me to do with Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo? I don't want to offend Pema, but I don't want to deprive her children of the opportunity to learn new skills however rare one may use them, they're still helpful skills," Lin said lifting her chin long enough to wave her hand dismissively before tucking it under again and squeezing her knees, she looked out between the legs as various party guests began taking their leave from City Hall across the courtyard.

"I would love it if you continued to treat them with kindness. I'll talk to Pema. We will figure something out." Tenzin stood and held an arm out to her. "It's getting late," Tenzin said.

She waved him off. "I have nowhere to be tomorrow. I'll just sleep in then. Leave me," She ordered, looking back at the dispersing crowds of people in long dresses and fancy suits all climbing into fancy cars and limousines.

"No," Tenzin replied.

She turned to him slightly startled by the tone of his voice. "I will never leave you, again."

Lin let out a throaty left. "Ain't it a little late for that, Ten?" She asked leaning on her knees again.

"Look, Lin. I may be married to Pema, but I will always love you for what we had together. For what we HAVE together,"

"Don't play with me like that-"

"You may have been the biggest stick up my ass, and the most stubborn, sometimes insensitive, and often violent human being I knew, but you were also the most loving, and passionate person in the world. You were the only one who could make me feel... well anything. And even in our brawls, you never really did hurt me. I could tell you always held back."

"Did not!" Lin protested.

"If you fought me like you fought Triad Members, I would have been dead by the time I was thirteen!"

Lin frowned.

"Anyways. The more time we spend together, ESPECIALLY with my siblings and your sister and Izumi- the more comfortable I feel. You guys are the ONLY people who know me! Who know I am not a spiritual leader like my father. That I am afraid of failure, that I still get angry even though I'm supposed to be a calm, peace loving Air Nomad. And we know you. The real you. Not the you, you pretended to be for the past forty years, scaring Triads and street kids shitless. We are all each other have, Lin," Tenzin said.

Lin frowned and took a deep breath. "I suppose you're right." She stood and looked out on the crowd. It had significantly thinned as the clock above city hall struck one AM.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes. May I escort you home? I want to check on the children before heading back to Air Temple Island."

"They're not really children, anymore but okay," Lin reluctantly agreed. They climbed over the back of the police building, running. She had concealed cables up her sleeves. Sneaky lady!" Tenzin shook his head with a smile. He jumped and she swung down to the ground and lead him to where she had a car waiting to drive them home.

"Are you alright, my Lady?" Luong asked. "Your sister told me what had transpired."

"I am fine, Luong. Thank you for asking, for caring about me,"

"You care for us so well, My Lady. It only seems right that we return the sentiment-" Luong replied pulling away from the curb.

Tenzin wanted so much to reach across the back seat and hold the hand that was in her lap while her left elbow rested on the windowsill of the car door, her head on her chin, eyes looking out as the city at night flew by.

What was he doing? Leaving Pema? What would If mean for Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo? Split custody, fifteen years of silence like the split with Lin? How would Pema react? Would she demand full custody of her children and run away to the Earth Kingdom? No, Jinora is an airbending Master. Her place is with the airbenders.

"Lin,"

"Hm?" She turned, with the moonlight splashing across the flawless half of her face, her scars masked by shadows. Her skin was still so smooth. It appeared even in her older age, she looked even younger than Su. If it weren't for her lighter, grey hair, one may believe she was.

"Do you think Jiexue, Xiaoyu and Kang would want their tattoos eventually?"

"I've spoken to them about it. Xiaoyu yes. She is very proud to be an airbender and your daughter, and wants to do everything perfectly. I'm no master airbender but I think she's ready. I think they all are. But Jiexue and Kang? They also take great pride in being the first nearly master airbenders raised and trained by an earth bender. They don't want tattoos. They say they want to be the founders of a new 'tribe' of air nomads, like the Swamp benders who split from the Southern Water Tribe,"

Tenzin shivered at the thought of one of his sons and daughters among the swamp benders and Lin laughed at him. "Don't worry. I talked them into at least continuing to wear clothes," Lin said briefly putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "If you offered, I'm sure they would accept."

"Home sweet home, My Lady!" Luong announces, pulling through the gates and up to the front door of the staff building. He got out and opened her door first then Tenzin's.

"Thank you, Luong, if you will put it back in the garage, you are dismissed for the evening."

"As you wish." Luong said bowing deeply and backing the car into the garage as Lin and Tenzin made their way through two courtyards to the main house.

All the lights were off except one in the kitchen. They found Suyin in a green robe sitting on a stool by the counter bent over a boatload Of paperwork and Bataar bent over massive scale drawings of a particular structure for the Northern Air Temple.

"It looks incredible!" Tenzin commented peeking over the other man's shoulder.

"Thanks," baatar said. "It aopears there is some sort of something here, but I'm not quite sure what it is. A bird house or a lemur shelter-" Bataar said pointing at a small blemish on the faded scrolls Tenzin had lent him.

"Oh it's not that extravagant. It's just a rain spout!" Tenzin replied.

"AHHHH I see. So that's why there's a lip around most of them, rain is gathered and leaves through the spout!"

"So the Windows aren't obstructed during the wet season."

"Brilliant! Thank you, Tenzin!" Bataar said shaking his hand.

"How are the children?" Lin asked.

"All asleep. We couldn't get HuiFan's dress off though."

"Poor thing! I'm so sorry! I forgot-"

"What did you do to it?"

"I threaded her corset with platinum."

"You can bend platinum now?"

"Sh! I don't want anyone to know!" Lin whispered. "I told her I used pig-cow hide."

"Let's go free the poor girl."

They went up to her room. Lin sat on her bed and stroked her face to keep her asleep and gently rolled her over. She put her hand over the girl's back and slowly spread the back of the corset underneath the gown. Slowly. She kept her other hand stroking her daughter's cheek to relax her and keep her asleep. Then she pulled the thread out under the skirt.

"I don't care if she tears the dress turning about in her sleep. I don't care if she asks Izumi to burn it in the morning," Lin said rolling the platinum thread into her hand, leaving her daughter to rest peacefully.

"It is a BEAUTIFUL dress," Suyin admitted.

"I know,"

"If you don't mind me asking? How much did it cost?"

"The metals alone cost more than how much it cost to build everything on Air Temple Island. Then the silks... I don't even know. Would you believe me if I told you I hired a consultant to help me find a dress for my daughter specifically for this evening after Tenzin told them they could go?"

"Actually, yes," Suyin replied.

"They're my entire world," Lin said glancing into Jiexue's room at the girl sprawled our on top of her covers, with her air drying hair puffing up like a Beifong.

"She sleeps like mom, just everywhere!" Suyin commented. Lin laughed.

"May I kiss them goodnight?" Tenzin asked Lin appearing in the hallway.

"Do you have to ask me permission?" Lin asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I am their father!" He whispered standing up a little taller. "I AM THEIR FATHER!" He went into each room and saw them sleep for a brief moment each.

"I should probably go now,"

"That would be best," Lin aggreed.

"Goodnight, Lin. Goodnight, Su," Tenzin said hugging them both at the same time.

"Goodnight, Chrome Dome!" Suyin replied making her sister giggle and Tenzin turn red.

He slumped in irritation.

"Hey do you need a glider? I don't think they have taxis this late."

"I don't want to take the childrens'"

"We have extras." Lin said running to get one. "Here, be safe!" She said patting his head and running her thumb across the arrow on his forehead before recoiling her hand.

"I will," He almost kissed her head but then remembered where he was going. Back to his wife and four other children.

He took a deep breath and flew from the patio in the garden.

* * *

The next morning they received a call.

"Beifong residence!" Kang answered.

"Hi um, may I speak with Lin please-"

"Mom!"

"I'm here, no need to yell. Hello?"

"Hey, it's Pema.-"

Lin glanced over at Suyin who nodded, set her pen down and picked up the other phone.

"-I just wanted to apologize for what I said last night, it was completely out of line and unnecessary and I just- should have understood you were only trying to help. You're always trying to help. Jinora explained they asked you to teach them and I wanted to thank you for your time and generosity."

"Thank you, Pema, that was very kind of you to reach out," Lin replied diplomatically.

"Could you also extend my apologies to Suyin? I realized I inadvertently insulted her too, and I'm sorry-"

"You can tell her yourself." Lin said a little more harshly than she intended. "It's more sincere that way, I can get her on the phone,"

"Oh-" nevermind. Pema hesitated. "Yes please,"

"Hello Pema," Suyin said with Lin still listening.

"Hello, Mrs. Beifong. I wanted to apologize for what I said last night and wanted to thank you for your mercy. You are right. You and your sister have ten times the honor I do individually. I was wrong to let my insecurities get the best of my emotions. It was immature, and I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"I will forgive you Pema, but I will never forget last night," Suyin replied.

"I understand."

"Is that all you have to say."

"Yes."

"Then have a great weekend. You and your family are welcome to join us at the Northern Air Temple in a few weeks, if you want to see it being rebuilt."

"Thank you for the invitation. I wish you all good luck in the endeavor." Pema replies.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

* * *

"Mercy?" Lin asked Su curiously once they both hung up the phone.

"I just gave her a piece of my mind-"

"Su!" Lin shrieked.

"Don't worry! No rocks flew, no punches swung! Just gave her the good old fashioned Beifong Burn with words!" Suyin said elbowing her sister with the biggest grin of satisfaction on her face.

Lin sighed and shook her head.


	14. Departure from Republic City

On Tuesday, at noon exactly, the monster airship pulled up to the dock number _ at Future Industries airfield. It was a beautifully sleek metal thing painted with a chrome top and a matte grey underbelly. Emblazoned on both engines, the Beifong flying boar sparkled in gold on green and on the underside of the front of the airship, a symbol resembling the Earth Kingdom emblem was painted with three swirls instead of one. Earth and Air. It was incredible. Over a hundred truckloads of supplies were lined up to be loaded onto this luxury skyliner.

Asami and Korra Both came to witness the massive undertaking as private dock workers drove into the elevator and onto the airship, some staying, and others leaving just the container before leaving again.

"I don't see how they can do it in one hour!" Korra said watching.

Just then there was a rumble and a third and a truck flew though the air and onto the air dock and drove onto the ship. They looked down at ground level and saw a group of people, not dressed like the blue collared delivery men, but like some people of a higher class. "It's Beifong and her family!" Korra said darting from The air traffic control room with Asami in suit.

"And THAT is how you load a truck onto an airship!" HuiFan demonstrated, folding her arms with a smug grin of satisfaction on her face.

"Yes, yes, we are all aware you are the greatest earthbender in the world," HungJian said rolling his eyes.

They were all wearing normal clothes again. HuiFan had her cables and meteor bracelet and braid. HungJian carries his hammers. Jiexue and Xiaoyu has fans and gliders and Jang just had his glider.

"Lin! Hey-" Korra called.

Lin Beifong didn't turned as she looked up and watched the workers load up the airship.

"Miss Beifong!" Asami said coming up beside Lin.

"Miss Sato," Lin said formally addressing the young woman. "I believe I was informed we were given the dock for an hour, yes?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" Asami asked.

"Per section 5 of the reservation, Future Industries guarantees a secure loading area in addition to the dock-"

"Yes-"

"Then why is the avatar here?"

"I Uh... Korra is my girlfriend."

"Is she an employee of Future Industries with C-Level clearance?"

"No,"

"Is she a United Republic employee with E-Status?"

"No,"

"Is she on the list provided to you by my secretary of public transportation employees with clearance to handle the goods being transferred to this air ship?"

"No,"

"Then please explain to me, Miss Sato, how this area is secured..." linnsaid finally turning away from her airship to face the CEO of Future Industries.

"But I'm the avatar! I'm not going to steal anything!" Korra said defensively.

Lin ignored her.

"I didn't think-"

"What?"

"I thought because she was my girlfriend and since you know each other, she could come see-"

"What is there to see? Miss Sato, I must caution you against abusing your power as CEO of Future Industries to satisfy your girlfriend's curiosity. I don't think the head of your ONLY metal provider would take it lightly upon hearing just how lacking the security is on one of it's client's airfields."

"You would tell the head of Earthen Fire world?"

"I am the sole owner of Earthen Fire Works." Lin Beifong said to Asami.

She finally turned to Korra.

"Korra, I don't care if you're the avatar, but I would appreciate it if you quit trying to interfere with my family," Lin said. "Come on, children."

"So mom, CAN I RIDE THE ELEPHANT KOI ON KYOSHI ISLAND?" Kang asked loudly.

"I SWEAR, KANG, IF YOU ASK ME ONE MORE TIME, I'm leaving you on the airship and you won't even get to SEE the island!" Lin yelled at her son while her other children laughed.

They boarded the elevator and road it up to the deck. Just then a sky bison appeared overhead and landed on the deck.

"Woah-" Korra and Asami watched.

"Lin, i know you probably don't want to see me now, but I figured I'd ask anyways..."

"Will you spit it out already?! We don't have all day!" Lin said impatiently while HuiFan, Jiexue and HungJian laughed behind her.

"I was wondering if there was room, if Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and I could join you for the duration of the trip. I thought it might be good since they don't get off the island very often... and they'd get time to bond with their siblings."

Lin scoffed. Her muscular arms folded across her torso that was wrapped not in armor, but greens and crepes with a metal belt.

"If there's room? Tenzin," she sighed. "This monster airship has over a hundred and eighty three rooms and we only occupy seven of them. Of course you can come!" Lin said waving him up the gangway.

"Okay kids! You can come out!" Tenzin said.

"Wheeeeee!" The children jumped up and rode off of Oogi on air scooters and past Lin, Tenzin and the older children.

"NOT SO FAST!" Lin yelled flicking two strips of metal around each of their torsos pulling them off of their air scooters, and back to her as her own children jumped out of the way. Tenzin couldn't help but smile at how she reeled the usually wild bunch in again.

"Since this is MY airship, and MY vacation, you will have to follow few ground rules okay?" Lin told them.

They nodded.

"First rule: if you get hit in the face, don't cry about it." The children glanced at each other. "Second rule: if you make a mess, clean it up relatively soon after. Third rule: if you break something, tell me, so we can deal with it accordingly. You may or may not be in trouble. Third rule: no screaming unless absolutely necessary. Fourth rule: we eat dinners as a family. Fifth rule: every evening for two hours we have family quiet time, usually after dinner"

"How can you be quiet with family?" Ikki asked.

"Being with family doesn't mean you have to talk to them. We have books, newspapers, board games, card games, you can draw or write. We're just all in the same room together. You'll see how it goes," Lin said.

"Are we free to explore now?" Meelo asked.

"Yes," Lin replied.

With a burst of air, the children jumped back on their air scooters and rode up the gangway.

"Hey wait for me!" Kang yelled joining them on an air scooter as they laughed with glee.

"So where is our first destination, Captain?" Tenzin asked Lin.

"Ba Sing Se, to kidnap the Earth Queen," Lin replied.

"Great!"

"Lady Beifong! Ten minutes!"

"How many containers remain?"

"Six, ma'am"

"HuiFan, could you-"

"ON IT!" HuiFan ran and jumped off the air ship dock landing with a thud. Tenzin ran over to the edge air ship dock and looked down.

"INCOMING!" She yelled. Tenzin jumped back as a two ton truck with a FULL shipping container flew up ten feet over the threshold of the dock and landed with a slight bounce and drove onto the airship.

"CLEAR?"

"WAIT!- CLEAR!" Lin yelled.

"INCOMING!" And the next truck flew up the fifty feet onto the airship dock.

HuiFan launched the remaining four trucks up when the elevator proved to slow, then rode it up alone and they all walked onto the airship.

* * *

"How much longer until we reach Ba Sing Se?" Kang asked his parents that he found sitting in the atrium of the Airship both reading, one a newspaper from Republic City, and the other, reading a Newspaper from Gaoling.

"About an hour probably."

"Okay," Kang said. They remained in silence for a few minutes.

"You're still here," Lin said seeing her youngest son still standing beside them with the goofiest grin on his face that reminded both her and Tenzin of Aang.

"I just like seeing you guys together," he explained. As if he knew it would irk his mother, he bolted as Lin threw her newspaper down.

Just like that, Lin's heart began to beat erratically, and she blushed. She turned and put both feet firmly on the floor of the airship.

"Are you okay?" Tenzin asked.

"You weren't listening, were you?"

"Not at all."

"Good." Lin said trying to slow her breathing and heart rate.


	15. The Northern Air Temple, Part I

The air ship arrived at the site of the Northern Air Temple by sunrise four days later with an army of earth and metalbending guards from Republic City, Zaofu, and Ba Sing Se. They anchored the airship to the mountain of dried lava to wait until their masters woke up.

Everyone shared a vegetarian breakfast that morning in honor of the Air Nomads before getting suited up for manual labor. The metalbenders all put on brown shorts, green shirts and tan tunics with a grey sash for Republic City, Light green for Ba Sing Se, and dark green for Zaofu, with metal back supports for all of the heavy lifting they anticipated.

The structural architects examined the melted mountain against the paintings of the Northern Air Temple that Tenzin brought and the dimensioned drawings Baatar Junior and HungJian created from the paintings. They decided not to work with the cooled magma but to build the new Temple adjacent to the old on a nearby mountain peak. They spent the day creating various terraces from which they would carve the roofs of the tower. They decided to work from top to bottom, hollowing out towers, making stair cases, passages and rooms. Everyone was assigned to a group of 20-40 people depending on the type of structure they were making.

Tenzin couldn't believe it.

JinKun who was a master of color scoured the nearby mountains and valleys with Huan for colored clays. Hung-Jian, Wing and Wei helped to raising walls, HuiFan and Suyin worked on digging out towers and stair cases and rooms while Lin commanded a team of fifty earthbending construction workers flattening the terraces. By the end of the day, they completed the main structures for three towers and five terraces.

* * *

Tenzin stood in the atrium of the Beifong Airship after dinner, looking out on the progress of the new temple as the sun set. Just fifty four more towers and a hundred terraces to go. Then the roofs. Then the painting.

"Tenzin, relax. The original temple took centuries to build," Lin said walking up to him by the window placing her hands on his shoulders, digging her thumbs into the base of his neck.

"And minutes to destroy," Tenzin said sadly turning his attention to the molten mess that Gazan created.

"So what if it takes a year? We have time. The world is stable and if anything happens, we can pause this and come back to it later. Rest your head, Baldy. We got this. Jinora can take over as our Air Nomad consultant if you would like."

"But Jinora is too young-"

"Tenzin! Enough worrying before I throw a gag over your face and chain you to your bed." Lin threatened.

"That's hot, Lin," Suyin called from across the room. Lin flung a metal strip in her direction as their children all laughed, but Suyin blocked it effortlessly with her forearm smirking.

"Shut up, Su!" Lin snarled shooting daggers with her eyes at her little sister.

"I love my family." Kang whispered with a smile on his face.

On the floor, Wing was playing pai sho with HuiFan while Wei watched nervously. Huan and JinKun were taking turns making a sculpture together, each only making one bend or tear at a time. HungJian and Baatar Jr were mulling over more dimensions, Meelo and Kang were playing with marbles and little army men flicking them across the board at each other side army. Opal, Jinora and Ikki shared a couch sitting with their feet interlaced reading. Jiexue and Xiaoyu were sitting back to back on a couch also reading. Suyin was sitting with a cup of tea and a newspaper from Ba Sing Se with Baatar Senior sitting beside her talking.

Lin finally sat down for the first time that day next to Tenzin and picked up her newspaper sent from Republic City.

It was a nice and quiet evening save for the occasional exclamation of despair every time one of the twins lost in pai sho to HuiFan who was undoubtedly the smartest girl any of them ever knew.

"Who taught her?" Tenzin whispered to Lin, not realizing they were leaning on each other's shoulders.

"I did." Lin replied turning the page of her newspaper before taking another sip of tea.

"Who taught you?" Tenzin asked.

"Great Uncle Iroh," Lin answered casually.

"You got him to teach you?"

"You were there when we played. You just never payed attention."

"I did! Just not to the game."

Tenzin remembered then. They all sat legged around the round board, but Tenzin had been more fixated on her slow breathing and the rise and fall of her developing chest as well as the furrowed brows and concentrated expression on her face than how she actually moved the pieces in the game.

Lin smiled remembering the same thing. With her seismic sense, she could feel his heart racing and his body changing in places that didn't used to change.

"Aunt Lin!" a shrill little voice called. Lin looked up from her newspaper and removed her reading glasses.

"Yes, Ikki?" Lin asked looking directly at the little eleven year old girl.

"How would you define true love?" Ikki asked inquisitively.

"Uh..."

"I got this, Lin-" Su began.

"No! The book says love is different for everyone and that's why the characters disagree and why the princess jumped into the water of the Boiling Rock prison in the Fire Nation when her supposed true love tried to rescue her! I want to know what Aunt Lin thinks!" Ikki explained.

Suyin raised an eyebrow at Lin with a smirk. Everybody was looking at her. Since it was all family, nobody was surprised she had her head on Tenzin's shoulder.

"I think, true love is when you'd almost anything to keep the other person safe and mostly happy," l'on replied.

"Mostly?"

"Because if you enjoy different things, and make every sacrifice to accommodate the other, you will be miserable. In love there must be communication and compromise. But first safety. Because safety leads to trust which makes the engaging parties more open to that compromise and communication."

Ikki thought for a moment. Then jumped off of the couch she was sharing with Jinora and Opal and landed on Lin's lap and hugged her.

"Uh..." Lin saved the newspaper then patted the girl's back awkwardly.

"Does this mean you truly love daddy?" She asked.

"What?" Both she and Tenzin jerked apart.

"I- uh—"

"Ikki we're not-"

"You keep him safe every day as Chief of Police. And you kept us safe from Amon and Zaheer and Kuvira. You've always kept us safer than anyone else could, even though we're not yours." Ikki explained.

"I suppose I do then."

Somehow, Ikki ended up falling asleep on Lin's stomach while Lin resumed leaning on Tenzin's shoulder reading before bed.

It was a custom in both Beifong Households, apparently. That family down time every night.

Ikki became more inquisitive and Jinora listened intently as they asked Lin and Tenzin everything about their child hood and how come Tenzin never played games with them like he did with HuiFan and HungJian and JinKun.

Tenzin didn't know how to say it but he was just... tired. Tired of living a life that he felt like wasn't his. He made up something about getting busy with the council but HuiFan, Lin and Suyin knew he was lying. He didn't want to betray his first family in a way and he had subconsciously marginalized his kids with Pema. He doted on Pema, yes but it seemed to be more out of obligation than love. But here they were, all his children without Pema happy as ever.

"Will you play airball with us now since there aren't council meetings you have to attend to?" Ikki asked.

"I suppose I can," Tenzin sighed with a smile. The next morning they started building late for some fun time in the airship's gym. They formed teams for cheering. Tenzin versus Jinora, Ikki and Meelo. He was pretty good the kids loved it. Then he played against his three kids with Lin who slaughtered him. Then it was Lin's versus Pema's children.

"No fair they are older."

"But we have never been taught by an airbending Master!" Xiaoyu said.

"And you have an airbending Master on your team!" Jiexue reminded them.

"Come on guys, focus! We can win this!" Jinora said to Ikki and Meelo.

They played viciously and were pretty evenly matched, but the Beifong children had better stamina and tired not so easily and began to score more and more as Pema's children became winded and tired.

"Hey Lin, have you showed the kids the modified airball you and Tenzin created as children?" Suyin asked.

"No," Lin replied sipping a cup of kumquat juice.

"You should."

"Wait! So metalbenders can play with airbenders?" Ikki asked.

"Yes!" Suyin answered.

They knew then there was no escaping the demonstration.

Tenzin took off his cape and shirt as Suyin cheered and Lin looked away and merely shed the metal off her clothing save for one short wire that she looped in the inside of the air ball and spun it in her hand and jumped up on the poles and faced her favorite little airhead.

"Ready to get slaughtered for the second time today?" Lin asked.

"Are you?" Tenzin replied.

She kicked the ball and he returned it. They played like children. Evenly matched, taunting each other the entire time. Finally, Lin punched the airball back towards Tenzin with a greater force than before. Suyin saw the split instant that he was distracted by her, most likely the sweat on her sister's chest and faltered.

The ball hit Tenzin in his flexed chest sending them both through the gates.

Ikki almost fainted while the rest of the children went to congratulate Lin.

"THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!" Meelo screamed.

"Ew. You're all sweaty!"

"I'm not as young as you all are."

"Tenzin, how come your kids don't know any of the games that we played when we were younger?" Suyin asked.

"Yeah, Ten! When did YOU become the stick in the mud?" Lin asked jogging over, picking up the modified airball, turning it in her hands and rolling it over her shoulders.

"I'm not a stick in the mud!" Tenzin squealed with his fists balled and his face red as Lin and Su laughed.

"Tenzin, please put a shirt on, I don't think Baatar would appreciate you distracting me," Suyin said more for Lin's sake than anybody's.

He slumped and took a fresh towel from the butler and wiped off all of his sweat before dressing again while Lin just slapped back on her metal brace to go out and resume building. She was so strong. So resilient.

* * *

The next morning, they received a shipment of woods, metals, and roofing materials. With all of the supplies, they were able to begin to run the plumbing and water and installed the rain collection cisterns and filtration systems as well lay the roofs for nine of the finished towers. A couple groups began installing flooring, meditation poles, walls in the main structures, and an airball court on the temple grounds.

It was beginning to actually look like a temple!

The kids took a break one lunch to play a few matches of airball on the new temple's court.

"Wait. I have to get something!" Lin ran into the airship and returned with a camera. She got a shot of each of the children on the new poles then lifted her self into a stone pillar to get a wide shot of everyone watching the game between Jinora and HuiFan.

"Didn't think you were one for photos!" Suyin smirked appearing behind Lin as she lowered her earth pillar.

"Hey! I never had very happy memories worth capturing, so I thought I'd try to capture the ones I like now!" Lin snapped lowering her earth pillar.

"And whose fault is that?" Suyin replied with a smirk.

"Yours, obviously!"

"Oh yeah," Suyin frowned.


	16. The Northern Air Temple, Part II

By the fourth week, most of the Temple was complete and it was time to decorate. Tenzin sent for some of the Air Acolytes from Republic City to come help with the painting of historical murals and images using JinKun and Huan's clay paints made from the same materials that the Air Nomads of the Northern Temple used thousands of years prior.

But with the Air Acolytes came Pema.

They arrived by bison with Pema riding Oogi.

"Mama!" Ikki yelled sitting on Lin's foot while Meelo rode on her shoulders and Jinora held her hand.

Pema didn't understand. They didn't run to her. They just waited until Lin reached Pema.

"Okay, your mom's here. You can get off of me now!" Lin snapped pulling Meelo off of her by the collar of his shirt dropping him lightly onto the ground. They all got up and hugged their mother.

"It's quite a temple you've built. I didn't know you were an architect."

"I'm not. Baatar did the first drawings from Tenzin's images then Junior and HungJian did the technical drawings and we just provided manual labor." Lin explained.

"Wow. Must have been exhausting!"

"Yeah. Little ones kept it interesting though." Lin said looking down at Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo.

"Mama you should see the Beifong airship!" Meelo exclaimed.

"But first why don't you show your mother the temple you helped create!" Lin said to Meelo.

"Okay!" And Meelo and Ikki dragged away their mother.

"Can I stay with you?" Jinora asked.

"Jinora, your mother hasn't seen you in three weeks. Go spend time with her."

"Awwwww.. but she's not interesting as you are." Jinora whined.

"But she's still your mother!" Lin replied firmly, pointing her finger at the fourteen year old.

The airbender ran off reluctantly, but understood Lin would not let her stay a minute longer. After the etiquette lesson at the gala, they had to be careful with Pema.

The acolytes began painting the interior of the finished towers while the earthbenders cleared away excess rubble and constructed the lower towers and rooms and some secret passages through the mountain.

By the time Pema's tour ended, lunch had been delivered to each of the work groups. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo lead their mother to their favorite place at the Temple, the airball court where Tenzin and Kang were playing with Jiexue and Xiaoyu.

"Can we play a round?" Ikki asked running ahead..

"Sure!" Tenzin said jumping off the court to the side where Lin and Suyin were lounging on rock recliners.

Xiaoyu and Jiexue jumped off and grabbed some watermelon juice from the butler's tray as HuiFan made earth recliners for them too.

Pema thought it was curious that Tenzin would jump off the airball court and land next to Lin after not seeing her for three weeks.

"So how have things been up here?" Pema asked walking around the court to him.

"Good. A lot faster than expected," Lin answered for Tenzin not looking at her, but watching Kang play with Meelo. Meelo was clearly distracted. His sisters always aimed for him while Kang had to save the gate every time.

"How has our favorite island been?" Suyin asked.

"Your favorite island?"

"Yeah. Spent the first sixteen years of my life there!" Suyin said. Both Tenzin and Lin turned to her strangely. "When I wasn't running around with the Terra Triad." Suyin corrected herself.

"Oh, I didn't know you lived on Air Temple Island," Pema commented.

"Hey! Lin lived there for thirty nine years," Suyin said with a casual wave of the hand.

Lin stood up dropping both hers and Su's recliners back into the earth, but before Su could fall, Lin lifted her by the metal necklace she wore.

"Hey! What are you-" Suyin began to protest as Lin grabbed her wrist and dragged her away.

"Can you at least try to be a little sensitive to Pema?" Lin whispered glancing back at the group to make sure they were out of ear shot of anyone.

"Hey, I am just making small talk. It is not my fault she's so damn sensitive! Gosh! Since when do you care about her feelings?"

"I don't, but I care about her kids' and Tenzin is already being an asshole to her without realizing it. He didn't even greet her when she arrived on the Oogi!"

"So what?"

"So, she may think something is going on between us!"

"Well, you were on his shoulder the other night."

"That wasn't anything! You cuddle with Izumi and Kya whenever they're here, that doesn't mean you're having a lesbian affair with both them at the same time! Just- stop talking about our history."

"But the present is so boring. The history is so much fun!" Suyin replied stomping her foot like a child.

"Yeah and she was never part of it and already feels left out, so quit making it worse, okay?!" Lin growled.

Suyin sighed. "Fine."

Lin released her wrist and walked back to the group.

"Forgive my sister and her loud mouth. Where were we?" Lin asked.

"The island is doing well. Apparently Korra and Asami got into a fight and caused a tsunami so we had to rebuild the docks and redo some of the roofs. Apparently they're together again now." Pema said.

"Damn," Suyin commented taking another sip of her drink.

"Mom!" Jiexue interrupted, jumping off of the airball court. "Do you want to see me make a tornado the size of the size of the temple?"

"Do I have a choice?" Lin asked dully.

"No!" Jiexue replied as she and Jinora grabbed their gliders and flew to an adjacent mountain peak a bit lower elevation. Jiexue started walking in a circle around Jinora and moving her arms in a circular motion pulling all of the air without disturbing the anchored airships. She had control of all of the air in he mountain range. She indeed made a tornado the size of the temple, just inverted while Jinora looked up to the inside in awe. Then Jiexue let it go and blew everyone's hair and face. Everyone except Pema calmly covered their drinks and closed their eyes while Pema inhaled some dust and started choking.

"I can help! Just lay down!" Xiaoyu said pulling Pema down and bending the dusty air out of Pema's lungs, replacing it with regular air. When Pema regained her vision after the coughing fit, she saw a younger version of Lin in Xiaoyu.

"Get away from me!" Pema yelled pushing the sixteen year old girl into the poles of the airball court and away from her

"Ow!"

Tenzin helped the sixteen year old girl to her feet and held her.

"How dare you lay hand on her after she saved your life!" Lin yelled jumping in front of Xiaoyu before Pema could push again.

"She wouldn't have needed to if your kid didn't make that tornado!" Pema shot back.

"She's an airbender! Your kids make tornadoes all the time! Only you're stupid enough to inhale them!"

"At least my kids' tornadoes are small and controlled!"

"Controlled?" Lin coughed and turned to Meelo who was racing Kang on air scooters before running into a tree.

"That's Meelo though!" Pema replied defensively.

"You might want to think about how you treat my children before the next revolutionary comes to power and your ass needs saving, because I assure you, the police have much more important things to worry about than one ungrateful air acolyte!" Lin yelled before turning away with a wave of a hand causing an avalanche down the uninhabited slope as Jiexue and Jinora returned.

Xiaoyu stood crying into Tenzin's robes.

"I was just trying to help her because she was going die by asphyxiation!" Xiaoyu explained to Tenzin. "I didn't even burn her nose!"

"What happened?" Jinora asked landing with Jiexue.

"Mommy choked on the dust from the tornado and then Xiaoyu saved her and then Mommy pushed Xiaoyu and yelled at her and then Aunt Lin went Mama Badgermole crazy for Xiaoyu and now Aunt Lin is gone." Ikki rambled off.

Jiexue could and couldn't believe it. "My mother gave up her bending for you and your family and you attack her kid because it triggered some 15 year old memory? What do you even have to be mad about? YOU STOLE OUR FATHER!" Jiexue yelled at Pema before running after her mother who was hiding in one of the bison caves.

* * *

"I should have showed more restraint." Lin sighed wiping her eyes when she heard Jiexue approaching.

"She had no right to push Xiaoyu." Jiexue replied rubbing her mother's back.

"But it was just a push. She didn't punch the girl! And a bender as powerful as Xiaoyu doesn't need protection from Pema of all people. I should have just let Xiaoyu respond, but I guess I still harbor some animosity too."

"It's only human. I think we all know you still care about Dad deeply. So what? He was your first and only love and no matter how things change, he will always have a place in your heart and your head."

"I suppose,"

"Come on. Xiaoyu's alright. You've taught us to be selfless and fearless in the face of danger. We can handle anything!" Jiexue said. "We'll be fine."

When they returned to the group, Suyin was properly introducing herself to Pema whom she realized she had never really met other than when she was in Republic City briefly to fight Kuvira, again for Varrick's wedding, and lastly for Lin's retirement party, which didn't end with the two on very good terms.

"Sorry for lashing out," Lin said to Pema.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have attacked your daughter. Your kids have good hearts."

Lin smiled. "If you would like to, instead of camping out in sleeping sacks, you are welcome to join us on the airship tonight," Lin offered.

"Thank you, Lin, for your generosity and selflessness,"

"Don't mention it."

* * *

That evening, the children still had their daily four hours of training with bending and weapons and sparring, rotating stations followed by stretching and then dinner. Lin's chef, Doan, from the Fire Nation and Su's Pirate Chef from Zaofu were having fun experimenting and collaborating with vegetarian limitations. They prepared a vegetarian pork from tofu and sautéed it with teriyaki seasoning and put it over rice with a side of sweet and sour soup and vegetable stir fry.

Lin sat between Suyin and HuiFan instead of next to Tenzin like all of the previous nights and Tenzin sat between Opal and Pema. Ikki insisted upon sitting next to Jiexue after seeing the magnificent tornado she made hoping for some of her older half sibling's talent and skill to rub off on her during the meal. Pema's kids couldn't be more in love with their older half siblings.

"And Mommy, after dinner we ALWAYS have family down time in the atrium!" Ikki said dragging her mother into the massive space in the luxury air ship where there were a couple low tables and couches and nice soft rug and a huge sky light that you could see the stars through. The Butler from Lin's estate took tea orders for everybody, and they all settled in their usual positions. Tenzin almost went to Lin's couch before remembering his wife was there and took a single chair instead.

HuiFan sat with her mother to try to ease the tension a bit. Lin and Su both picked up newspapers while the airbender girls picked up novels.

"Aunt Lin, I am almost finished with this one, do you have any recommendations for after?" Jinora asked the master metalbender showing her the cover of the book.

"That book is actually the first of a series. I believe the next one is called 'Days Of Flight'." Lin replied.

"Thank you!" Jinora exclaimed skipping off to the wall of books. Jinora climbed the ladder and used air bending to slide to over to put away her book and get a new one.

"What are you reading, sweetie?" Pema asked Jinora on her way back.

"It is an incredible true story about the paralyzed son of a mechanist who moved his entire village into the Northern Air Temple ninety years ago. The Mechanist created devices to aid his son's mobility and the first book ended just when the son was about to get a wheelchair with a glider on it!" Jinora explained.

"Wow! It sounds exciting!" Pema declared feigning enthusiasm.

"It is!" Jinora said not noticing the artificial excitement. She went back to a couch and sat with Xiaoyu and Jiexue. Ikki was playing pai sho with Kang.

"Daddy! Why didn't you ever teach us any games?" Ikki asked debating what to do with her lotus tile on the pai sho board since all of the other pieces were pinned.

"I thought your mom was going to teach you games while I was at work," Tenzin replied.

"I was always busy with the littlest one," Pema replied frowning at Tenzin for blaming her.

HuiFan raised an eyebrow at her mom knowingly. They both thought the same thing. Lin had six children, worked twelve hour shifts, six days a week and still managed to teach her children games, train them four hours a day and have evening family time, and cook at least one meal a day for her children all without a partner. Tenzin only worked four days a week.

"But how then did Aunt Lin teach all of her children with six children, all so much closer in age AND working twelve hour shifts, six days a week without Daddy helping her?" Ikki asked her mother.

Tenzin, Lin, HuiFan HungJian, Jiexue, Xiaoyu and Suyin all pinched the bridge of their noses and groaned.

"What?" Ikki asked innocently.

Pema inhaled sharply and looked as if she were about to explode. "Well if Aunt Lin is so great, why don't you just ask her to adopt you since she is so capable at EVERYTHING?" Pema snapped walking out of the atrium.

"Daddy, I don't understand! Why is she mad at me if it is all true?" Ikki replied.

"It's… complicated," Tenzin replied going after Pema.

* * *

"What is going on with you two?" Pema asked Tenzin.

"Nothing! We are rebuilding a temple!" Tenzin insisted.

"Why do the kids like Lin so much?"

"Shouldn't you ask them that? I don't spend every second with them! I have to provide consultation to all of the teams on how best to replicate the old Air Temple! I barely get to see them."

"It just seems like you and Lin have been awfully close lately,"

"I haven't been with her for fifteen years, Pema! I am entirely yours! Just because we're civil now and our children interact with each other doesn't mean we are doing anything!"

"You didn't even receive me with the other acolytes and then when you were playing airball, you landed on Lin's side!"

"Only because I was already on that side of the court! I don't know why you are getting so worked up about nothing!"

"Tenzin, she is your ex-girlfriend! I am not blind; I see the way you look at her!"

"And you don't think she felt that that way fifteen years ago?"

"What? Are you trying to defend her now? I am your wife, Tenzin!"

"If you are my wife, then why are you acting this way?!" Tenzin yelled.

Pema sighed. "I don't know."

"I would never do anything to hurt you!" Tenzin insisted.

"I'm sure you told Lin the same thing when she was your girlfriend, before you married me."

"You know what? You're just jealous. You're jealous because she is strong and confident and can protect YOU children AND her own better than you ever will be able to,"

If Pema were a bender, she would have destroyed him. But he was right, so she could only remain quiet.

"I am going to bed," Pema decided, turning away from Tenzin to head back to their room, avoiding the atrium. "Feel free to sleep on the floor or with Lin tonight; I don't care anymore. Just stay away from me."

"Pema!"

When Tenzin returned to the atrium, Ikki was laying on Lin's stomach reading to her, while Lin's eyes were closed. "… Tuesday night, Chief Mako apprehended four members of the Agni Kai Triad…"

"I think Aunt Lin is ready to turn in for the night, how are the rest of you feeling?" Tenzin asked moving some hair off of Lin's forehead. Ikki looked up at her.

"Oh, I didn't realize,"

"I'm still awake, Baldy. Just barely." Lin said opening her eyes ever so slightly to see Tenzin standing above her.

"Time for bed," Tenzin said stroking Ikki's childish belly.

Everyone closed their books and put them back on the shelf, cards back into the drawer on the table, pai sho tiles back into the bag and packed up for the evening.

"Goodnight!"

"Night!"

And everyone went to their separate rooms.

When Tenzin got to his room, Pema had sprawled out as much as she could over the king sized bed to block Tenzin from joining her.

Tenzin sighed and went into the hall to find extra blankets and pillows, and situated himself on the floor. He was not with Lin however much he wanted to be, and had to prove that to Pema, somehow, for the sake of the children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure how to do the Tenzin/Pema arguments but... yeah... Hope you still enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to comment/review if you have time!


	17. The Northern Air Temple, Part III

The morning was slow and peaceful. They weren't in as much of a rush to get out to the Northern Air Temple now that most working groups had a steady routine, and most of the heavy lifting was completed early. They were able to have more time to relax and take their time getting ready in the morning and eating breakfast.

"This morning we have steamed brusselbeets, marinated tofu with a very special miso glaze over white rice with a sprinkle of local spices that Chong and I discovered yesterday in a nearby village while you all were building!" Doan said clapping his arm around Suyin's chef.

"Ummm... Mom, what's a brusselbeet?" Kang asked apprehensively poking at one of the red looking tiny cabbage shaped things on his plate..

"I am assuming some hybrid of my two least favorite veggies," Lin replied picking at the vegetable wearily. Everyone else shrugged and dug into their breakfast.

"It's actually really good, Mr. Doan!" Ikki exclaimed to Lin's chef.

"Thank you, Miss. Ikki!" The chef said bowing before taking his leave as Tenzin and Pema finally joined everyone else at breakfast.

"Tenzin, you're in pain," Suyin stated noticing him limping slightly and making a feeble attempt to rub some knotted part of his lower back while Pema walked with an uncharacteristic air of confidence.

"I slept on the floor," Tenzin explained glancing sideways at his wife who ignored him and took a seat as far from the two Beifong Matriarchs as possible.

"Tenzin, you do realize there are over a hundred rooms on this ship right?" Lin said. "You could have just used a spare room."

"I didn't want a certain somebody to think I was anywhere I shouldn't be or with anybody I shouldn't be" Tenzin replied abstractly enough for his children to not understand.

During breakfast, the children chattered among themselves while Lin and Su ate in silence, watching everyone else interact.

"Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, would you like to join the acolytes today in painting the first airbenders?" Pema asked her children.

"Actually Mom, we already planned to have airbending training today with Aunt Lin." Ikki replied.

"You train airbending with an earthbender?"

"She did teach Jiexue and Xiaoyu and Kang and they're really good. We figured it would be beneficial to ask for a couple of lessons." Jinora explained. Pema glared at Lin at the other end of the table where she was explaining something to Huan.

"You can come watch-" Ikki invited.

"Sure, I'll do that. The other acolytes can manage to paint for a day without me," Pema replied.

They all dispersed after breakfast to get ready then reunited on the mountain.

* * *

The kids lead their mother to where they were supposed to meet for their lesson.

It was a brand new kitchen, with smooth stone walls, floors, counters, and sinks, shiny new brass pots and pans hanging on wooden pegs in the wall, and on the balcony, a large oven for large volumes of pastries and breads. On the balcony railing, Lin sat with one leg on the ground and one leg on the railing, looking out on the various construction sites with satisfaction. Finally, she turned to the children.

"You know the drill. Get the fire started. You're each making eight cakes today. My cakes are already made," Lin said stomping her foot as eight mud pies popped out of the wide railing on which she sat. "Oh hey Pema! I didn't realize you were joining us today."

"Hi Lin, I just wanted to see what you guys were up to in your airbending lessons,"

"Well today the kiddos are going to work on their aim using one of Monk Gyatso's legendary methods. Do you know him?"

"He was Avatar Aang's teacher."

"And the greatest airbender of his time. Anyways, Meelo's shown a great amount of progress with this exercise in the last six times we've done it, but today I'm going to throw them all for a loop."

"How so?"

"See that group of air acolytes meditating? Usually we just hit them from this balcony, but today, we're going to aim for Tenzin's group and Suyin's group from the back of Pepper,"

"I don't understand-"

"They have to use their bending to send their pie on the perfect trajectory to land on a certain person's head,"

"Isn't that rude?"

"Nah... They're used to our antics," Lin replied looking out on the hustle and bustle of activity below.

For a few minutes, the only sound was the swishing of cake batter, and the scraping of a metal whisk in a metal bowl. The two women watched as the children poured the cakes into the pans and slid them onto the baking shelf in the hot oven and then prepared the mixture for the gooey filling.

Pema considered joining Lin on the railing, but decided against it after seeing the hundred foot drop off below the balcony. If she fell, unlike the benders, she would have no way of slowing herself, or softening the impact, so she remained standing on the balcony, leaning back on the rail. "How did you have time to plan this? The rebuilding of the temple?" she finally asked Lin.

"I didn't plan it alone. The whole family helped. Su and I had talked about it briefly immediately after the run in with Zaheer a few years ago but neither of us had the time to execute anything until now. We also needed Tenzin's approval since they are essentially his temples, and we needed resources since the entire thing couldn't just be carved out of the mountain. Fortunately, three years ago, I inherited my grandfather's company giving us the assets we needed, but then the company's mines were temporarily nationalized by the Earth Empire when Kuvira rose to power. Then Suyin became the the interim Earth Queen and so we had to rethink our plans in case the international scene saw her as being partial to the Air Nation, but now that FOUR Beifongs are Air Nation citizens, it kind of makes more sense that we would want to help. Once we actually began the project, most of the building planning was done by Baatar and his team and the logistics planning by my daughters and Jinora."

"Jinora?" Pema asked.

"Yes, Jinora. Why else were HuiFan, JieXue, and Xiaoyu on Air Temple Island every day of the last week before we left?"

"But Jinora is so young. How could she possibly help-"

"She's fourteen years old. Katara was a Master waterbender, blood bender, and healer by fourteen years old. Your daughter was a master airbender at what, eleven? Surely she could handle a couple numbers associated with a trip." Lin sighed. "You and Tenzin both seem to greatly underestimate the capability of your children."

"I suppose..." Pema paused. "How did you do it though?"

"Do what?" Lin asked turning to face the Air Acolyte.

"Make your kids not hate you?"

"Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo don't hate you."

"They resent me, I know it. Your kids seem to-"

"You don't know anything about my kids."

"I know they resented Tenzin for- leaving."

"That wasn't his fault. It was the White Lotus, and yours." Lin replied turning away again.

Pema sighed. "I meant how do they not resent you. They seem to all adore you equally, and love you equally. There doesn't seem to be any clear favorites like in Suyin's family. How did you manage to teach them games and train their bending and tell them stories about your mother and her friends..."

"For one, I never said 'I'm too busy with the little one'. I may have spoiled them. I can't tell at this point. I multi-tasked until I collapsed for years. I answered every question, gave into almost every request within reason, participated in every childish game and told them a different story every evening no matter how ready I was to just crash and sleep. As they got older, they realized its toll on me. They began to like seeing me happy as much as I like seeing them happy. It worked out in the end, I think," she turned to Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo who huddled by the oven on the balcony drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick to pass time while the cakes baked. After pitying their efforts for a few minutes, Lin scrunched her fingers together reducing a patch of stone to sand so they could draw their pictures more easily.

"Thank you, Aunt Lin!" The children chorused. Lin smiled. "There is no secret method. The path to love and being loved is never easy. No one gift or one instant will define the nature of the relationship. It is all the little things that make it complete."

* * *

After waiting a while, the children began pulling the cakes out of the oven and setting them to cool on the railing, raising the gooey fillings with their airbending.

"Meelo, what have I told you about consistency?" Lin asked eyeing the young boy's gooey topping.

"To not rush because then the texture of the filling isn't uniform?" Meelo said.

"And what are you holding in front of you?" Lin asked.

"A lumpy fruit tart," Meelo said in defeat.

"Get the next cake," Lin sighed sliding off the railing, walking over to him.

"It's only a slight inward twist as the hand as you come up slowly. She said clasping her large calluses hands over his little boyish ones he pulled and twisted up and produced a perfect little swirl.

He gasped and looked up at Lin with surprise.

"Now replicate that!" she ordered.

He managed to do four more like it, then one lumpy one, then he slowed down and managed to make the rest smooth. After all the cakes had cooled, Jinora called pepper with her bison whistle.

"Now, since it is your first time airbending these things off of a moving bison, I am going to tether you in, Okay?" Lin called from the bison's head while the children sat in the saddle with their fruit tarts. They nodded in understanding.

"Okay!" Lin waved her hand and four cables looped one end around their waists and the other around the handles on the bison saddles. "Are we ready? Pies secured?"

"Yep?"

"Children secured?"

"Yep."

"Pema, would you like to join us? I can tether you in." Lin offered.

"Oh alright, but I don't need to be tethered in. I won't be standing and I've ridden plenty of bison in my life."

"Of course you have," Lin replied skeptically. They took off and flew below around the mountain just out of sight of the working groups.

"Okay. Our first target are Suyin, Huifan, Wing and Wei. They should be hauling debris off the mountainside at the lowest terrace." Lin said.

"Look out!" Pema yelled. Lin jerked Pepper's reins to avoid the falling rocks and Pema nearly fell out of the saddle.

"Kids, get ready now!" They all stood, creating a bubble of still air so the pies wouldn't fly off as they began their ascent. As soon as they reached above the terrace, SPLAT! Jinora nailed HuiFan, Ikki, Suyin, and Meelo got Wing and Wei in the face.

"Look out! They were ready!" Ikki yelled as the four earthbenders each levitated two mudpies.

"Duck!" The children flattened themselves beside the fruit pies in the saddle as mud pies were hurled at them. The children squealed with laughter.

"Next target coming up!" Lin yelled as the children jumped up again and fired at their father and half siblings, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, and Kang.

They ducked as fruit pie remnants came flying back at them with a powerful gust of wind. Lin jumped up and punched a mudpie then at each of them then got hit by fruit pie and knocked off of Oogi.

"Lin!" The kids screamed. Lin shot a cable up and looped it around Oogi's horn and flung herself in the air and onto the bison's head again. She turned around and the kids blew at her simultaneously, blowing all the cake off of her face and out of her hair.

"Um a little help here-" Pema was completely covered in a combination of watt and fruit cake.

"Mooooom did you even TRY to duck?" The kids asked.

"Yes!" Pema replies.

The kids blew it off but Pema nearly fell out of the saddle and Lin had to shoot one of the tethers at her. They landed on the balcony of the kitchen. Lin slid off the head while the kids flew off the saddle with little puffs of air. Pema slowly made her way off the back, seemingly afraid of heights maybe and followed them.

"What will we do next?" Meelo asked flying into her shoulders.

"Next you guys have an hour of forms forms and then conditioning with your siblings. Jiexue will lead that because I have to check on my sister and the building of the bath house," Lin replied peeling Meelo off of her shoulders casually without telling him no. He will learn eventually by the simple repeated action to not ride her like a sky bison.

"Okay!" the children chorused, Jinora and Ikki each taking one of her hands while Meelo slipped ahead.

Pema was envious of the earthbender. Lin was strong. She could handle the children's energy and airbending. She knew how to entertain them and teach them. Even though Lin was never an Air Acolyte, she seemed to know more about Air Nomad traditions and customs than she led on in the public eye. This Lady Lin Beifong was nothing like Chief Lin Beifong.

They met up with Tenzin and the other airbenders on the brand new training ground.

"Dad!" they ran up to Tenzin who waited with Jiexue xiaoyu and Kang.

"Your aim is improving greatly, my young pupils!" Tenzin said touching each of them on the head with an approving smile.

"Enough praise! We are here to WORK!" Jiexue yelled grabbing her Dad by the shoulder, and pushing him aside, standing over the three young airbenders with her hands on her hips.

"Yes ma'am!" they yelled, saluting then running past her to join Xiaoyu and Kang on the training ground.

"Tenzin, do you know where Su is?" Lin asked shifting her attention to her old friend.

"South end. Do you mind if I accompany you? I need to have a word with Baatar about some of the rain spouts," Tenzin asked. "The look a little-"

"Tell him, not me. I don't care about the rain spouts." Lin said with a hand up, silencing him.

"Um... guys, what should I do?" Pema asked.

"I thought you were going to paint the first airbenders with the other air acolytes today-" Lin replied remembering the exchange at breakfast.

"Oh yeah... right..." Pema sighed, sulking off to join the other Air Acolytes.

Lin and Tenzin glanced at each other and shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This feels like such a short chapter. I decided to change the order of some scenes and it made this one shorter. Don't forget to leave comments and reviews! I would love to hear your thoughts on the story and if you have any characters you want to see or any ideas you want me to include. :)


	18. Ember Island

**Hi! I just wanted to thank all for your support and feedback! Sorry if the story is kind of confusing since there are so many original characters in it. This is just a note to summarizing OCs.**

These are Lin Beifong's children that I made up (I chose the names based on the meanings listed on some baby name page.) **All** of the children have been trained in **chi-blocking** when they were young, but only **HuiFan** , and **her sisters** have bothered to remember that training. **Jiexue** started learning knife throwing with **Fire Lord Izumi's** encouragement and instruction when she was six years old and didn't know if she would ever bend anything(See the prequel **'In Isolation'** ). **All of the girls** ended up learning and mastering knife throwing(like **Mai** in **ATLA** ), but **HuiFan** doesn't need it as long as she has her metalbending, and **Xiaoyu** avoids it since Air Nomad culture stresses peace and non-violent interactions so much.

**HungJian** (born in 150AG) ~Earth~Metal~  
Name Meaning: courageous strength  
Hungjian is brave, good natured, extremely loyal to his family.  
 **Weapon of Choice:** Hammer (he carries two on his belt like that bully in the episode "Zuko Alone" from ATLA)  
 **Age in this story:** 24

**HuiFan** (151AG) ~Earth~Metal~Seismic~Truth Seeing~  
 **Name Meaning:** Clever Lethal  
Toph prophesied Huifan was born two months two early and shortly after, contracted a terrible fever. Katara gave her a year at most to live, but her heart persevered, refused to give up, and she survived. Because of her strength and stubbornness so early on in life, Toph prophesied Huifan would become "The Greatest Earthbender in The World" AFTER Toph's death. HuiFan is a prodigy and master of earthbending end all of its sub elements. She supposedly has the build of a waterbender,and looks very much like her grandmother Katara, but has her mother's pale skin and brilliantly green eyes. Her perfect bending and beautiful appearance is supposed to mask her depression. She has the most troubled past (she is the only one of her siblings to know that the White Lotus split her parents up so many years ago, and she fought with them, begged and pleaded both parents and was shut down. It took her years of water healing and careful treading for her to recover some sense of normalcy).  
 **Weapon of Choice:** Metal strips (like Kuvira) because of their versatility. She also carries two spools of cables that she uses only for transportation, not combat.  
 **Age in this story:** 23

**JinKun** (153AG) ~Earth~Metal~  
 **Name Meaning:** Golden Earth  
Jinkun is described by his mother as an air nomad in an earthbender's body. He values all life, is extremely trusting and optimistic. Gentle, won't harm the smallest spider fly and once saved a drowning glow worm from a bird bath in the garden of the Beifong Estate. He uses his earthbending to extract pigmented clays from ground sediments and creates paints.  
 **Weapon of Choice:** Boy can but won't fight (kind of like Huan)  
 **Age in this Story:** 21

**JieXue** (156AG) ~Air~  
 **Name Meaning:** Heroic and Learning/Study/School  
Jiexue is an extremely powerful and precise airbender. At the age of eight years old, she saved her older brother from drowning by bending air into his lungs through his nose with enough force to push the water out, but not so much force that she burst his lungs. She perfected precision air bending and can save lungs from asphyxiation after exposure to smoke, water, and gaseous toxins. She is a natural leader with the confidence and directness of an earthbender.  
 **Weapons of Choice:** Kyoshi Fans and Staff  
 **Age in this Story:** 18

**Xiaoyu** (158AG) ~Air~  
 **Name Meaning:** Filial piety/being good to parents, and Yu can mean jade, delightful, or rain.  
Xiaoyu is a sweet young airbender who resembles her mother nearly identically when her mother was sixteen years old. She loves both parents dearly despite their history. She tries too hard sometimes to please her parents and will do anything for her parents and her family members' happiness.  
 **Weapons of Choice:** Kyoshi Fans and Staff  
 **Age in this story:** 16

**Kang** (159AG) ~Air~  
 **Name Meaning: Healthy or well being**  
 **Kang is a cheerful and optimistic boy that is the spitting image of Aang in appearance and personality. He is good-humored and sweet, and excited and curious about everything. He likes to play games and listen to stories and still fangirls over his family members at the age of 15.**  
 **Weapon of choice:** Staff  
 **Age in this story:** 15

Also the Ages of **SUYIN's** Kids in this story are:  
 **Baatar Jr.** 26  
 **Huan** 23  
 **Opal** 21  
 **Wing** 20  
 **Wei** 20

**Izumi's** Children:  
 **Iroh** 30  
 **Ursa** 25  
(I know it makes it kind of creepy that **Iroh** would kind of flirt with **HuiFan** in chapter 11: Tension, but I just like to think of it as **Iroh** is being a gentleman and wanted to make **HuiFan** feel special for an evening after growing up with no one other than her siblings and aunts.)

**Pema** is a year younger than **Iroh** in cannon so she is 39 here, **Jinora** 14, **Ikki** 11, and **Meelo** 9, **Rohan** 3

So **Tenzin** is 55, **Lin** is 54, **Kya** is 59, **Bumi** is 62, **Izumi** is 58, **Suyin** is 48.

* * *

That evening before dinner, Tenzin and Lin went for a walk on the far side of the old molten temple.

"Is there anything left of it?" Tenzin asked solemnly.

"Not that I can feel from here," Lin replied much to his dismay, kicking a bit of obsidian off a cliff, and bending more walking path for them to take.

"I don't understand why she keeps getting upset!" Tenzin told Lin regarding Pema. "I am the main reference for the entire build project, and you and Su are funding the project and planning and executing. Naturally we have to spend a lot of time together. I can't spend the entire time by her side just because she is my wife. She's still an Air Acolyte and should be with the other air acolytes. And the kids still have training like they always have. So what if it's you or me teaching? She didn't act this way when we worked together to fight the Equalists!"

"I think she just feels left out, being a non-bender and all," Lin suggested.

"All of the acolytes are non-benders. They're not complaining."

"They're not your wife. Maybe if you were just a little more sensitive when you interact with her-"

"You always told me I'm over sensitive!" Tenzin replied.

"That was when we were together! Pema is different! Look, Whatever is going on between you two is not going to go away very easily. You know what?"

"What?"

"Take her on a vacation." Lin ordered.

"What? Where?" Tenzin asked looking taken aback.

"Ember island. It's only about a day away flying that way-" she grabbed his arm and turned him and pointed off into the horizon.

"Are you sure?" Tenzin asked suspiciously.

"We have Jinora to advise the building and decorating teams working on the Temple and I'm sure Su and I can handle Rohan if you guys are okay with it. The time alone could only do each other good. Fix things, for the sake of your children with her. We'll be okay."

"You're the best Lin!" Tenzin yelled hugging her for the second time in fifteen years.

"Tell me something I don't know!"

That evening after dinner, Tenzin found Pema in their room already in her pajamas ready for bed.

"Pema, I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a vacation. Just the two of us. I realized we got into things rather quickly and never really had a proper honeymoon and was just wondering if you'd be interested at all or... I mean Izumi has a house on Ember Island we could use and have a weekend to ourselves..." Tenzin said nervously.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I just feel like recently a rift has grown between us and I didn't want it to get any bigger, in fact, I want to eliminate it if possible-," Tenzin said.

"Hm, what about Rohan?"

"All of the air acolytes here will take care of him," Tenzin replied assuming Pema would be more comfortable with another Air Acolyte than Lin or Su. "Dai will be his primary caretaker like she always has and-"

"Alright, I suppose. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning?"

"Okay," Pema sighed forcing a smile.

There was no denying the rift growing between them. There was no question that the flame between them was shrinking. There was, however, a question regarding whether or not there was a flame to begin with.

* * *

The ride on Oogi was long and quiet and the Fire Lord's vacation home, vacant and eerie as Tenzin lead his wife through it for the first time.

"I have some old Fire Nation clothes in my old room and I bet you could fit in some of Su's. She was about your size when she was sixteen, the last time she was here." Tenzin said walking inside.

"Wait, we are going to wear Fire Nation clothes?" Pema asked.

"Of course. We always do when we come to Ember Island. Disguises are the only way we can ever really relax. That's how Izumi is able to get to and around Republic City. When she comes." Tenzin said leading her into the house.

Pema followed Tenzin into the house and into a room that had a few smooth rocks on the mantle and a few bent into little figures of people. Little sculptures. There was a photograph on the vanity of the six of them, all with their arms linked. Su couldn't have been older than ten in that photo. Lin looked sixteen and grumpy as ever, Tenzin had his hand on her waist and simply looked bored and slightly impatient Izumi looked beautiful and elegant with a mesmerizing yet subtle smile. Kya had jumped on Bumi's back and the two were cackling at something.

"That was the last time we all made it here together," Tenzin said seeing Pema study the picture. "After that, Bumi started touring with the United Forces, Kya left on some spiritual trip, Zuko abdicated and Izumi ascended to the throne. Suyin got tied up with the Terra Triad. Lin, well— you know Lin and her job."

"Wow," Pema commented.

"Here's some clothes. Would you like to see my room?" Tenzin asked.

"Sure,"

Tenzin walked quickly remembering the last time he was on Air Temple Island had been about twenty five years ago. It was him and Lin before HungJian was born. He quickly snatched up every photograph of the two of them and shoved them into a drawer under his clothes and pretended to just pull out his Fire Nation robes as he buried them out of sight. On his window sill was a couple of seashells, a rock of what looked like obsidian, and a clay sculpture of a sky bison, a gift from Lin for one of his birthdays they celebrated on the island.

"It's plain," Pema commented.

It wasn't a minute ago.

"Air nomads aren't supposed to have worldly possessions, remember?" Tenzin shrugged.

"So what do you do in this island?" Pema asked sitting down on his bed setting Suyin's clothes beside her while Tenzin changed out of his Air Nomad robes. "Forgive me, I've never been to the Fire Nation."

"Really?" We'll have to come back then. When we used to come here, we'd go down to the beach, play Kuai Ball, build sand castles, surf, spar, occasional crash some admiral's son's party, or go see a show by the Ember Island Players,"

"Don't you think we're a little old to be going to beach parties and building sand castles?"

"I might be, but not you," Tenzin replied, immediately regretting his choice to point out another major difference that he didn't have with Lin. "I can teach you how to play Kuai Ball! We don't have to go to the main beach. There's a private little alcove around the back side of the vacation villa. We used to go there to spar so the Fire Nation citizens wouldn't recognize us as the Avatar and the Fire Lord's Children." Tenzin suggested opting to leave Lin and Su out of the memory.

Pema considered his proposal before nodding in agreement. "Alright, but you'll have to go easy on me, I am not as athletic as you and your little friends." Pema requested.

"Of course!" Tenzin replied understandingly as he stripped himself of his yellow and orange robes of an airbending master and into gold and crimson robes of a Fire Nation Nobleman.

* * *

As Tenzin lead the way down the sheer cliff, he remembered the days when he and his friends were sent while their parents did dangerous work in Republic City. Izumi always jumped, slowing herself by blasting fire from her feet. Suyin and Lin jumped and either liquified or bent the earth to swallow their landings. Kya had the ocean receive her from the cliffside and carry her to the break in the waves, Tenzin flew gracefully, and Bumi, well Bumi, always pretending to be the bender he wasn't returned from all of their adventures covered in cuts and bruises. Only then did Tenzin realize the trek down the cliff face to the private beach could not have been more perilous for a non-bender of Pema's disposition. While Bumi was hardened by weapons training and various bootcamps to prepare him for service in the United Forces, Pema was an Air Acolyte since the age of ten years old. Even before that, she came from a small Earth Kingdom Village of a hundred persons among whom only one was a bender. She never had strength, agility, balance, or combat training, let alone bending.

"Ow!" Pema exclaimed as the tender flesh of her uncallused feet caught on a jagged edge of the rock with enough force to split and pull the skin, but not enough to make her bleed.

"Let me help you!" Tenzin said in a moment of panic, scooping up Pema bridal style, jumping off the edge of the cliff, landing lightly on the sand with a puff of air.

"I'm not helpless, Tenzin! I am just not athletic. You don't need to coddle me."

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't do it for you. I just really wanted to play kuai ball, and if you hurt your feet before even getting to the sand-" Tenzin looked up to find his little wife frowning at him. "I'm sorry!" He apologized immediately wanting nothing more than for some earth bender to come along and have the ground swallow him for an eternity. "I'll just go... make the court..." Tenzin said awkwardly. He used his airbending to flatten a patch of sand, then draw a line down the middle. From the center of the line, he created a vortex to carve out a perfectly circular depression to mark the boundaries of their court.

"Um.. Tenzin, don't we need a net?"

"Right, I almost forgot about that. I'll be right back" Tenzin replied nervously propelling himself out of the alcove with one small swish of his hands. He returned only moments later with two long poles and a net. He flung the poles off of the edge of the cliff, guiding them with his airbending, letting gravity drive them into the sandy beach from that height. Then he took one end of the net, jumped, and slid the net onto the first pole as he fell beside it. With another gust of air, he flew over to the other pole to secure the other end of the net. Finally, he kicked the ball out of a mailbag that he procured from the house, and caught it in his hands.

"So what are the rules of this game?" Pema asked.

"The rules are simple, get the ball over the net, and make sure it lands within the bounds of the court." Tenzin explained.

"Is there any particular grip of the hands?"

"Nope. You can use one hand, two hands, two feet, one foot, your head... anything. Just don't let it touch the sand on your side, and try to make it over the net again." Tenzin clarified. He tossed the ball in the air and let it bounce gently off of both forearms, passing it over the net and straight to Pema. She tried to mimic his movements, but only succeeded in sending the ball straight behind her. "Keep your arms lower than horizontal. Angle them towards the net, and don't raise them to meet the ball. The bounce should be sufficient. Try it again." Tenzin suggested. Pema tried again. They managed to get four passes in before Pema dropped the ball again. After several more attempts, Tenzin decided to introduce a new move, kicking the ball with the instep of his right foot, sending it back over the net. Pema took a step back from her original place and tried to kick with her instep, but only succeeded in kicking the ball into the knee of her standing leg, knocking her own limbs out from under herself as she fell with a yelp.

Instictively, Tenzin slid under the net, and to her side. "Are you alright?!" He demanded with an arm around her shoulders, feeling absolutely nothing.

"I'm fine! Seriously! Stop coddling!"

"I can't help it! I care about you too much!" Tenzin lied, hoping she would believe him.

"If you cared about me, you would let me go!" Pema replied trying to stand on her own.

* * *

_  
"If you cared about me, you would let me go," Tenzin said to Lin after their last joint meeting with the White Lotus._

_"I know," Lin replied with nothing but pained understanding as she gazed into his soul with her brilliantly alluring green eyes. She kissed him and blinked away a single tear of despair before masking all emotion and going to collect her children from the beds where they slept._

* * *

_... you would let me go..._ Pema's words echoed in his mind. _I would._ Tenzin thought to himself. _But what would happen to Jinora, Ikki and Meelo? They loved Lin, but there was no way Pema would release them to the metal-clad noble woman. No, Pema didn't care._

"Tenzin! TENZIN! Do you want play another round or continue gazing uselessly into the sand?!" Pema asked waving her hand in front of his unseeing eyes.

"I- sorry-. Let's go again." Tenzin replied awkwardly making his way back to his side of the court.

After hours, and a light sun burn, they could still only manage about nine passes before Pema dropped the ball. It was some amount of progress but was still not nearly as exciting as Tenzin had hoped. Once they decided to finish on the beach, Tenzin lifted Pema out of the alcove with his airbending, leaving the court and the net out for another day. The two cleaned up a bit before going out into the village to try to find fixings for a vegetarian meal that would most likely be served in no restaurant in the entire Fire Nation. While Pema usually did all of the cooking on Air Temple Island in the recent years, Tenzin decided he wanted to cook that night. He wanted to give her the opportunity to relax and not have to worry, yet she found his sudden change in character and mannerisms even more unsettling than his interactions with Lin.

She must have put him up to this! Pema realized. Regardless of her suspicions, Pema managed to enjoy the meal that Tenzin prepared for them in relative silence, before the couple embarked on a trip to the Island's Playhouse where The Boy in the Iceberg still played after seventy five years, becoming as much of a legendary story as Love Amongst the Dragons.

While they stood in line, Pema spotted a poster for a new show that would debut in just a couple of nights.

The poster boasted seven characters, six stood back to back with battle-ready expressions. There appeared to be an air bender, a water bender, two earth benders, a fire bender, and a non-bending swordsman dressed in fire nation clothes. Above them all was the sweet, wide-eyed and naive face of a woman with a somewhat devious glint in her eyes, positioned among the heavens where either the primary pairing, or the main antagonist of the show was placed on the poster.

"The Song of Earth and Air... A romance by Pu On Tim," Pema red curiously.

Tenzin's entire face turned red. The Boy in the Iceberg was a mockery, a comedic portrayal of the Avatar's journey to defeat the Fire Lord. However inaccurate the individuals' character portrayals were, the timelines were frighteningly flawless. How much did they manage to find out about Lin and Tenzin?

"...based on the lives of Avatar Aang's and his friends' children legendary playwright tells the surprisingly perfect love story between opposing elements and the cause of its utterly devastating demise... sources include singing nomads, sandbending thieves, former cops of Republic City, and a surprisingly knowledgeable pirate under the influence of cactus juice..." Pema read. Tenzin's face became hot with fury, or embarrassment, or a mix of both. Tenzin couldn't tell anymore. "Why don't we bring a poster back to the group. I am sure they would find it amusing!"

"A-ah -amusing?" Tenzin asked with debilitating anxiety causing cracks in his voice.

"Yeah! Why not? It would be a nice conversation starter for your old friends," Pema replied with a smirk as she tore the poster off of the billboard, and rolled it up, tucking it into the folds of Suyin's old Fire Nation Robes.

"I su-suppose..." Tenzin replied stuttering like a blithering idiot.

* * *

The play was just as terrible as Tenzin remembered it, which only made him worry more about what the Ember Island Company had in store for the Song of Earth and Air as he and Pema began their walk back to the Fire Lord's vacation home. Their second day was spent dismantling the Kuai ball net and smoothing over the sand before reading for a while, separately, silently coming to the realization that other than the children they shared, they no longer had anything in common. Desperate for the company of others, they finished their vacation getaway early, and began the flight back to the Northern Air Temple on the second morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Song of Earth and Air... I was kind of thinking of the Song of Ice And Fire by George RR Martin (The books that Game of Thrones are based on)... Also, I love reasons to bring back Izumi (And I like all of the nicknames for her. I have seen other people call her Zumi and Zuzu, but I like Zumzu because it sounds like Bumju, and I like the idea of Bumi flirting with her, though that doesn't happen much in this story because Bumi, Izumi, Kya, and Suyin are too busy stirring the pot of boiling water that is Lin, Tenzin, and Pema. :))))


	19. Truths, Lies, and Tales by the Fire Side

"Aunt Kya! I hear a sky bison!" Ikki said grabbing Kya's hand running towards the main gates and bison receiving area.

The air was cool at this time of day. Ikki wore a little yellow coat trimmed with faux fur that Kya brought for her from her most recent expedition to the Northern Water Tribe before joining them at the new temple.

"Tenzin! Pema! You're back so soon!" Kya said waiving with a warm, welcoming smile upon her wrinkly face.

"Daddy! Mommy! You're just in time for dinner! We're camping outside tonight! It is part of adventure time!" Ikki exclaimed.

"Adventure time?" Pema asked.

"Why tonight of all nights?" Tenzin asked. "It is far too chilly to be camping!" Tenzin questioned.

"It is not cold by the fire. Iroh and Ursa came with a second shipment of steel from the Fire Nation and Ursa's fire is BLUE Daddy! She is such an incredible firebender! She can sustain the flame even in her sleep, if she just goes to bed thinking about it! Would you believe it?! It is soooo cool!" Ikki rambled while Kya patted her on the back, trying to calm her down.

"She sounds like quite the bender!" Pema said with a forced smile.

"I still don't think you should be camping outside," Tenzin insisted.

"Okay, we will return to the air ship tonight, but can we at least stay through fireside games and stories?" Ikki begged jumping up and down, clapping her hands while her hair bounced.

"Alright, lead the way," Tenzin said offering his hand begrudgingly.

"YAY!" Ikki exclaimed practically dragging her father as she skipped down a dark mountain path to a fire in the valley between the new Air Temple and the Molten Peak.

"So, Pema, how was your trip to Ember Island."

"It was pleasant enough. I learned how to play Kuai Ball and we went to see a play-"

"Oh! Which one?!"

"The Boy in the Iceberg!"

"Oh that one is horrible! At least it has a better ending than Love Amongst the Dragons!" Kya replied.

"How so?"

"My Dad gets his girl, and brings me into the world!" Kya replied teasingly flipping her hair, rejoining the group, cackling like a madwoman.

Pema frowned and followed. Once she came into the clearing, she saw Ikki had already dragged Tenzin to a place between Lin and Jinora, Ikki, preferring Lin's lap to the ground as they all sat around the dim but nonetheless blazing hot fire that the Crown Princess created.

Pema sat opposite them between Meelo and Opal who held Rohan in her lap while he slept comfortably, completely exhausted by the day's festivities.

"So Mommy and Daddy, since you just came, you don't have to go first, but we still must explain the rules!" Ikki announced rather loudly.

"The game is called 'Two Truths and a Lie'. Basically, when it is your turn, you have to tell two truths and one lie, and then everyone else has to guess the lie, and if NOBODY can guess which is your lie, you get a point, so all three of your statements must be incredibly believable or incredibly outlandish!" Jinora explained loudly and clearly while Ikki pulled Lin's arms around her more tightly.

"Mama, can you go first and demonstrate? You're the best at this anyways," Jiexue asked Lin.

"Yeah, Mama, pleeeeeeeease?!" Kang begged.

"Alright, I'll go first," Lin gave in. She paused for a moment to completely steady her heartbeat and breathing before speaking, knowing her eldest daughter would try to cheat. "One: I was arrested at the age of eleven for defacing a monument," [1]

Tenzin snickered remembering that story.

"Shut it, Baldy— Two: I outdrank Uncle Bumi when I was twenty,"

This time it was Bumi's turn to snicker.

"And three: I couldn't sleep without my stuffed badger mole until I was nineteen." Lin said.

"Now what do we do?" Pema asked.

"We all have to guess which is the lie!" Ikki said.

"I think NO ONE CAN OUT DRINK UNCLE BUMI-" Meelo yelled.

"You'd be surprised!" Bumi said.

The children all gasped as both Tenzin and Lin beamed.

"Whaaaat?"

"Impossible!"

"Lin and Bumi were one for one for a while, then Lin pulled a half liter bottle of over forty-six percent cactus juice by volume and downed it! Bumi fainted just watching her!" Kya revealed.

"Damn Mama!" Hungjian exclaimed clapping slowly.

"When was this?" Huifan asked.

"How are you still living?" Jinora asked with utter shock.

"It was after Tenzin broke up with me—" Lin replied.

"When you were pregnant with Kang?!" Xiaoyu shrieked.

"Hm… no wonder he acts high all the time…" Huifan muttered folding her arms.

"NO I DID NOT DRINK WHILE PREGNANT! JESUS! Tenzin and I split temporarily when we were like seventeen. It was horrible, but it only lasted like a month…" Lin replied.

"That makes a LOT more sense!" Opal expressed with a sigh of relief.

"Now that that has been debunked, I think the badger mole one is the lie!" Jiexue said.

"Why?" Lin asked.

"Because I can't imagine my kickass mother with a little fluffy monster in her bed every night,"

"Jiexue, airbender don't use profanity!" Tenzin scolded his eighteen year old.

"Dad, didn't Mom tell you we aren't Air Nomads? We're going to make our own sect like when the swamp benders split from the Southern Water Tribe," Jiexue replied defiantly.

Tenzin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and diminishing patience.

"While you guys quarrel about etiqutte and cultural shit, I think being arresting for defacing a monument is the lie," HuiFan interrupted.

"What is defacing?" Ikki asked pensively.

"Damaging a piece of art in any way or changing it without permission," HuiFan answered.

"Ooooh. I agree with HuiFan. They wouldn't make you chief of police if you had a record right?" Ikki asked Lin.

"So you did slept with a badgermole until you were nineteen?" Jinora asked.

"No! That can't be! My mom's is too cool for stuffed animals!" Kang yelled I agree with Jiexue.

"I can't imagine our Esteemed Chief Of Police having a completely flawless record, so I will vote the badgermole as the lie.." Pema said.

"Nope! The record was a lie, but not because Lin is innocent," Tenzin announced.

"I was nine not ten!" Lin blurted out.

The children all gasped as Tenzin and his siblings and Suyin burst out laughing.

"Which monument was it?" Jinora asked.

"What did you do to it?" Kang added.

"It was the statue of my mother outside the police station and I lost a dare to Kya and had to replace her face with mine!" Lin answered laughing with the big family around the blue flames burning.

"OH OH OH! CAN I GO NEXT?" Ikki asked once the laughter had subsided a bit.

"Okay, shoot!" Lin said with a smile, watching the energetic girl.

"Mmmmm... When I was five, I broke one of the bells in the Temple on Air Temple Island. When I was eight, I ran away for a day..."

"Ikki we know that one was true! Dad and Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi went looking for you for days! Choose something harder!" Jinora interjected.

"Jinora you ruined it, but fine! Um... okay! When I was five I found some of daddy's old sketchbooks in the attic and the last one, I've kissed Kai!"

"WHAT?!" Jinora shrieked.

"Ikki!" Pema scolded.

"ONE OF THEM IS A LIE!" Ikki said defensively.

"That is beside the point! All of those, if true are absolutely horrible things to do!" Pema elaborated.

"Did you open my sketchbooks?" Tenzin asked with concern.

"Wait Daddy, you sketch?" Ikki asked obliviously.

"Were you worried she found those nudes of your girlfriend at the time?" Bumi asked elbowing Tenzin.

"BUMI!" Both Lin and Tenzin yelled Tenzin nearly blowing out the fire, and Lin causing the entire temple to tremor.

"So that one was obviously the lie," HuiFan said calmly as Bumi fell over, roaring with laughter.

"You sketched nudes of Lin?" Pema asked Tenzin with shock.

"And YOU you kissed my boyfriend?!" Jinora yelled at Ikki with a greater amount of shock.

"He didn't even know! He was meditating and I was curious why you loved doing it so often so I thought I'd try-" Ikki explained.

Both Pema and Tenzin turned to Jinora. "You've been kissing Kai OFTEN?!"

"Oops." Jinora grimaced, shrinking a little more inside.

"Were going to have to have a serious talk, young lady!" Pema said sternly. She turned back to Tenzin"

"It was YEARS before we were together!" Tenzin said defensively.

"You were what, four years old or something," Lin replied casually waving her hand dismissively.

"Wait if Mommy was four, how old were you, Aunt Lin?"

"Twenty," Lin replied.

"And smoking hot!" Suyin added with a mischievous wink.

"Shut up, Su!" Lin snapped.

"We are NOT talking about this any further. It all happened a long time ago and we've moved on!" Tenzin yelled folding his arms with a gust of wind that almost put out the fire again.

Both Su and Lin and their children cackled with laughter while Ikki, Jinora and Meelo didn't fully understand.

"Wait, Daddy, whats a nude?" Ikki asked after waiting again for the laughter to die down.

"It's a-" Jinora began to define before metal hit her mouth and stopped her from explaining.

"Jinora," Lin said authoritatively. "Listen to your father. We are NOT talking about this any further."

"Yes, Aunt Lin." Jinora replied obediently.

Pema was floored. How dare Lin 'parent' her child? And what even was that tone? She spoke as if Jinora were hers.

Opal went next.

"I snuck out of the domes when I was nine and attended a secret earthbending tournament when I was ten. I... actually hated our chef's raw kale wraps but pretended to like him so he wouldn't feel bad since no one else liked them. And... I accidentally tore Mom's favorite dress while playing dress up with Huan and Kuvira."

"You love those kale wraps!" Wing and Wei all yelled.

"Yeah I did," Opal laughed.

"Why did you let Kuvira take the blame?"

"Because you said we wouldn't get in trouble if we confessed and we didn't believe you-"

"Do you let your friend suffer the consequences?" Suyin asked.

"Yes," Opal confessed with a little remorse.

"Wait but you're not even an earthbender! Why were you at an underground earthbending tournament?"

"It was the final and Kuvira was about to unseat the champion eight years running. Grandma Toph told us about her days as the Blind Bandit, and I wanted to be able to support Kuvira that night."

"Did she win?!" Wing and Wei asked.

"Yes!"

"I really need to talk to the guards in Zaofu!" Suyin exclaimed.

"Why? Your kids are grown now. You can't keep them caged forever. Be grateful none of your blood babies have become ambitious dictators."

"But what about the future, and my grandkids!"

"Woah, there Mom! Shouldn't we be able to decide how much freedom we give our OWN kids?" Opal asked.

"I suppose," Suyin sighed.

"Okay, who is next?" Lin asked.

Wing raised his hand. "One! I'm actually Wei! Two, I took the physics and drafting exam for both of us. Three, I can bend platinum."

"CHEATER! You gave two lies and one truth!" HuiFan yelled.

"CHEATER! YOU USED YOUR EARTHBENDING, YOU DAMN TRUTH-SEER!" Wing yelled.

"Break it up you two! HuiFan, feet up. Wing, try again. Even I caught that and my feet were already elevated!" Lin said tilting her head back in an earthen recliner.

"Fine!" HuiFan frowned and folded her arms, bending up a footrest, mimicking her mother's position identically as Wing tried to think of two new truths and two new lies.

* * *

The next day, Pema found Tenzin standing next to Lin by one of the sparring grounds. There appeared to be two teams facing each other in what appeared to be the beginning of a rather dangerous looking game.

"What's going on here?" Pema asked arriving with Rohan and a basket of turnips.

"Earth versus Air. Apparently Kya told them that Tenzin and I were constantly battling to determine which was stronger," Lin sighed with her arms folded as she watched on disapprovingly, preferring duels to full on battles of six on one side of the court, HungJian, HuiFan, JinKun, Huan, Wing, and Wei stood in a row with their hands balled into fists or in the case of Hungjian, grasping a pair of heavy hammers. On the other side of the court were, Opal, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, Kang Jinora, Ikki, Meelo.

"I told them it all depended on the environment. If you were trapped in a very thickly walled wooden cage then air would be stronger. If you were in a cave then earth would be stronger." Tenzin added diplomatically.

"And apparently they wanted to find out for themselves and roped Su's kids into playing," Lin said tilting her head watching them face off with a clash that threw them all into their backs.

"Even Huan's out there!" Pema commented.

"Yep." Lin smacked her lips disapprovingly.

"Well, I am going to go check on the bison stables," Lin said taking leave. "Ten, you'll make sure they don't kill each other?"

"Of course, Lin." Tenzin replied.

"She has nicknames for you?" Pema asked once Lin was gone.

"Yes? Is that a bad thing?" Tenzin replied no longer making any effort to rekindle what Tenzin began to think never existed.

"It's just- surprising."

"You find everything about her surprising. You never knew her."

"You're right. I never did,"

"Pema, can you just give her a chance?"

"I suppose, for you."

"Thank you, Pema."

"Meelo, maybe you should sit this one out," Jinora said getting into an open-palmed defensive stance.

"Awwww why?!" Meelo whined.

"Well, we're all kind of... masters, and it most likely will get pretty dangerous," Ikki added.

"AWWWWW MAN! That's not fair!" Meelo yelled sulking over to his parents with a huff of air.

"Sorry, Meelo!" Kang apologized too, stepping back into his defensive, open-palmed fighting stance.

As soon as Meelo stepped off the sparring ground and beside his father, the two teams clashed with enough power to throw every single person onto their backs in a cloud of dust. The Huan and Huifan had the advantage with their seismic sense, but the airbenders blew away the dust and had speed in their arsenal. Pema winced when she saw Jinora thrown back rolling onto her back and over her head, but the airbender jumped up again and sped away on a mastery level air tunnel. Jiexue followed the fifteen year old and they together, spun HuiFan off her feet while Xiaoyu handled both Beifong twins, Ikki took on Jinkun and Hungjian, and Opal took on Huan. Huifan was tossed at Tenzin's feet, but before he could bend down to her, she sprang up and launched herself off of the ground, directly between Jiexue and Jinora, ensnaring a wrist on each of them. As she fell, she dragged them out of their air funnels and into trees. They both fell, getting the wind knocked out of them. Huifan turned away from their struggle and joined her metalbending brothers and cousins to defeat the rest of the airbenders. She dropped into the ground and disrupted the ground beneath them, launching Xiaoyu into the air and Opal off of her feet, then tripping Ikki, by trapping her foot in the ground. She spun and found them all surrounding their little brother Kang.

He put his fists together and made an earth sphere lifting himself off of the ground with a power similar to an airbending avatar, and blew all of the earth and metalbenders back with a roar of victory. Both Tenzin and Meelo ducked, Tenzin dragging Pema down who always did have a rather late reaction time due to her tendency to go into shock at the sight of such spectacular bending. They all slammed against stone walls and trees and fell to their knees.

"Yess! Air wins!" Kang yelled.

"Not quite that easily!" Wei yelled slamming Kang into the ground with a pillar behind him, slamming him flat into the ground.

They all laughed, too exhausted to continue their battle.

"And that is how Lin and I always ended things," Tenzin said to Kang once he pulled himself up off the ground. Ikki jumped up and ran over as soon as her foot was released.

"That was SOOOOOO much fun! Can we go again tomorrow! Please, please, please?!" Ikki begged Huifan.

"Maybe!" Huifan replied, putting a hand on her head to stop her from jumping up and down.

"That was totally wicked!" Meelo yelled running onto the field, kicking and blasting stones away to make it smooth again.

"You wanna go work on the paints?" Huan asked Jinkun.

"Yeah, sure," Jinkun replied following his cousin to where they stored their pigmented clays to make fresh paints for the Air Acolytes to use.

* * *

After another day of working dawn until dusk, the adults gathered to dine in the air ship, the children insisted upon taking their meal out around a campfire again.

"...and then the Magistrate sentenced the fortune teller to burn at the stake for falsely predicting the eruption of the volcano resulting in the loss of over HALF the civilian population of Makapu and ALL of the upper class population AND burying the treasury leaving the town with NOTHING with which to rebuild!" Kang described accompanying his story with flamboyant arm gestures, different voices, and animated expressions on his face.

"Woah!" Jinora, Ikki and Meelo gasped while all of the older children and cousins sat back sipping their tea smiling or ignoring the tale.

"May I join you guys?" A new voice asked from the dark. Everyone turned to see Pema coming their way. "It's like I never get to see you anymore!" Pema asked sitting in between Jinora and Ikki.

"Of course!" Ikki said sliding over on her log.

"We're just telling stories now. It will probably get boring." Jiexue informed her.

"Wouldn't you rather converse with the adults?" HungJian asked with suspicion.

"You're adults," Pema replied mtter of factly.

"But we've been treated like children our whole lives." HuiFan scoffed turning away as she sat on her log with her legs extended straight, crossed at the ankles and both hands on the wood.

"But you're still adults. Besides, it is boring to hear all of the 'adults' reminiscing about the 'good old days' every evening." Pema explained. The good old days that she when she wasn't even alive to experience.

"Hmph." HuiFan frowned just like her mother and made the exact same noises.

"Alright, you can stay," Jiexue said. "So, who is telling the next story?"

"Oh! ME ME ME ME!" Meelo yelled.

"This one happened four years ago. Just as winter was coming in! The revolutionaries called EQUALISTS rose to power in Republic City," Meelo said jumping to his feet, one foot on the log with his face almost in the fire. Pema sub consciously latched onto the back of his shirt so he wouldn't fall in.

"I think I remember that, didn't mom try to retire?" Jiexue asked.

"No, she didn't try to retire. She DID retire after the scuffle at the Sato Mansion where she lost a few of her men," HungJian replied.

"But the idiot Saikhan couldn't handle being police Chief, so they gave her the job again after," HuiFan chuckled to herself.

"And then, on the day of the GREAT INVASION of Republic City, storm clouds darkened the sky! Airships blocked out even MORE of the light! And then, the bombs fell over the city. Two airships came STRAIGHT FOR US as we were fleeing! But we were safe, WHY?! Because Lin Beifong was there! The brave, the courageous, the one-man fighting machine with the strength of the entire Kyoshi Warrior team, was there to protect us. Even when we flew so far from the earth with two more airships in pursuit, she kept fighting as fighters do, and JUMPED off of the bison! And that metal lady flew. She was weightless as she soared up over that airship. And when she landed, she peeled the hull of it back like a space rug then jumped over to the next airship, to do the same, but the Equalists has seen her work and this time, were ready! AND she was captured! The End"

"Great story, Bro!" Wing said clapping his hands jovially.

"Wow, I didn't know aunt Lin could tear apart airships so easily." Opal exclaimed with her hands clasped together in admiration..

"Thank you, thank you-" Meelo said bowing after his animated delivery.

Pema looked over at Lin's children who seemed less thrilled with Meelo's choice of story.

Then there was the steady taping of metal on stone.

"And here comes the hero lady herself!" Meelo yelled.

Lin frowned as her face came into the fire light. She looked at Meelo suspiciously. "Riiiiiight, well, I'm going to go to bed now. Beifongs, what time will you be coming in tonight? Remember, tomorrow you will be joining the decorating team and you have to be present when we make new groups!"

"Probably only another hour," Xiaoyu replied.

"Okay, well play nicely. I love you," Lin said kissing Xiaoyu on the head before going around to kiss all of her children before trying to depart again.

"AUNT LIN!" Meelo yelled running after her.

"Yes, Meelo?" Lin asked bending down.

"Can we get hugs and kisses too before you go?" he asked with wide pleading eyes.

"You know, your mom can give you hugs and kisses. You can ask her," Lin said motioning toward Pema, feeling a little guilty. Her efforts to be kind only made the little ones love her more.

"But hers aren't the same! Please?!" Meelo asked.

Lin took a deep breath and sighed.

"Go ahead," Pema said from her seat between Ikki and Jinora.

Lin looked puzzled. "Fine."

Meelo jumped up into her arms, and Ikki and Jinora ran over to embrace her while Wing, Wei, and Opal laughed.

"Can we have hugs and kisses too?" Wei asked teasingly in a mocking voice.

"You can have a slap to the face, how about that? Don't laugh at him for wanting a hug!" Lin yelled whacking one of the twins as he only roared with more laughter. "Goodnight, children!"

"Night, Mom!"

"Night, Aunt Lin!"

She waved one last time.

"Oh Lin you're leaving already?" Tenzin's voice came in the dark.

"I'm tired. Time to hit the hay!"

"Well, sweet dreams! I'm going to stay with the kids a little while longer."

"You kids have fun!"

"Will do," Tenzin said waving her goodbye and climbing up to the children's bonfire.

"So how are things over here?" Tenzin asked sitting on the other side of Jinora as Pema.

"We keep TRYING to tell each other stories but it keeps getting interrupted by OLD PEOPLE!" Meelo yelled in annoyance.

"Hey I'm not old!" Pema said.

"Yeah, since you're a year younger than Iroh, you could pass for one of us," HuiFan scoffed rolling her eyes.

"Is there something you want to say to me, HuiFan? Because I am right here, and I will not take disrespect from you, young lady-" Pema yelled.

"Pema, why don't we just calm down, HuiFan didn't mean to offend you and you are a year younger than Iroh who is no doubt their generation," Tenzin said.

HuiFan raised an eyebrow and glanced at her brothers and sisters.

There was clearly tension and some of Suyin's kids saw it too.

"Fine," Pema grumbled.

Huan told a story of when he was younger he taught Kuvira how to throw rocks at the domes in the Zaofu so that it created the biggest clang that resonated throughout the entire district, to scare everyone awake for fun. He told them just where to hit the dome and how they were immediately caught. [2]

JinKun told them how he fell off a ship on the way from Ember Island and almost drowned but JieXue was able to save him by bending air into his lungs and not exploding him and how they never told their mother because by the time they got home, she was already mad because Izumi had taken them to watch Pro-Bending when the ship arrived early in the harbor and they were late missing their city car. [3]

Wing and Wei told the story of when one of the house staff helped Dai Li recruiters get into their residential dome in Zaofu to kidnap Wing and Wei to join the Earth Queen's secret, elite task force. [4]

Then HuiFan told the story of the rescue and how she was separated from her mother, HungJian, Kuvira, Suyin, Kya, and Fire Lord Izumi and how the leader of the Dai Li at the time tried to rape her but she fought back. [4]

"Are you okay?" Tenzin asked rife with newfound concern.

"Of course I am. He didn't succeed," Huifan replied looking down at her feet.

"Kya and Izumi went with your mother?" Pema asked.

"They were SUPPOSED to stay with us, but wanted to help. Mother was, to put it nicely, livid, but didn't feel like having to fight them AND the Earth Queen to keep her family safe," Jiexue clarified.

"Who stayed with you at the Estate?" Tenzin asked.

"Bumi-" JinKun replied.

"What? You should have told me!" Tenzin exclaimed feeling a little betrayed.

"We hadn't spoken in nine years," JinKun explained.

"Besides. Jinora was what, six years old? And Ikki three, and Meelo one year old. You were busy." Jiexue added.

Tenzin suddenly felt so much more guilt and remorse for missing out on so much of their lives, all of the good and the bad times. He missed being by Lin's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1]From a fanfic that I read a while back that I cannot find any more (about Kya(or Tenzin, I can't remember) daring Lin to change the face of toph to her own and getting arrested and the irritated guard only getting more irritated when Lin escapes from prison and simply says "That's my girl!" while beaming with pride) If you remember the title of it, can you post it in the comments so I can list it here? Some other fanfics have become like cannon to me :))) 
> 
> [2] from Halcyon and the Mansion Part 1 - a comic fanfiction from ssKuvira on Tumblr.
> 
> [3] from a chapter that will be in the prequel to this story, "In Isolation"
> 
> [3] from a different chapter that will be in the prequel to this story, "In Isolation"
> 
> I kind of just wanted to give this generation 'bonding time' before things get... kind of... crazy... :)
> 
> Don't forget to leave a review if you have time. I always love hearing your thoughts and feedback.
> 
> And to the guest Jxjxjx, thank you for your review. I will try to incorporate some flashbacks in future chapters, maybe having to do with an interrogative Ikki or inquisitive Jinora or annoying Meelo. Or maybe even Opal who is just sweet and probably wants to get to know more about her cousins and aunt a bit more. :) I hope everyone has a nice day/night!


	20. The Song of Earth and Air

The next morning they woke to the sound of leather boots with special rubber soles of Fire Nation soldiers tapping on metal and earth as they marched off of their air ship and onto the grounds of the Northern Air Temple.

The elite guards from Republic City, Zaofu, and Ba Sing Se all prepared for a fight with the impending fire.

"What is the meaning of this?" Iroh demanded as he came down the gangway of the Beifong airship followed by his sister, Ursa, then Tenzin, Lin, Suyin, Kya and Bumi. "I am the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne and I order you to stand down!" Iroh commanded the soldiers.

"Is that any way to greet your mother and the current Fire Lord?" Izumi asked walking down the gang way of the Fire Nation Airship.

"Mom!" Iroh ran through the ranks to hug his mother.

"My loves!" Izumi said embracing her son and daughter. "You've been good to Lin and Tenzin, I expect?"

"Mom, I'm forty years old, Mom! I don't need to be babysat by them anymore!" Iroh replied sarcastically rolling his eyes.

"I know! But I still worry!" Izumi replied making a mess of his combed hair affectionately. She turned to her old friends. "Good! You're all here! It has come to my attention that a play has been made about us, and I thought to myself, this is exactly the type of wacky, time-wasting nonsense that's been missing from all of our lives in the past four decades!" Izumi said holding up the poster.

Lin and Su immediately snatched it up.

"Hey! I want to see!" Kya yelled trying to steal it.

"And me!" Bumi yelled.

"I brought extra copies," Izumi said holding out three more.

"THE SONG OF EARTH AND FIRE, HUH?!" Bumi asked wedging between Lin and Tenzin who both folded their arms and frowned.

"Pema saw that poster when we were getting our tickets for the Boy in the Iceberg. She was going to tell you guys about it, but I guess never got around to it." Tenzin told them.

"Sources include... sandbending thieves under the influence of cactus juice?!" Suyin exclaimed. "Bullshit! I never got that drunk in the sandbending commune and I wasn't a thief!"

"You told our life story to some random traveler after a couple of drinks?!" Lin asked her sister accusingly.

"Did not! The show probably made up all of this anyways!" Suyin said tossing the poster aside.

"I dunno, Little Suyi- The Boy in the Iceberg was pretty on-point despite the sucky casting." Kya said with a wink.

"So will you guys come? Who else would I go see such a shitty play other than my best friends about whom it was made?" Izumi asked.

"Must we?" Lin asked glancing sideways at Tenzin.

He simply grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I brought extra guards to protect your children while we are away. I know, Lin can get paranoid sometimes,"

"Paranoid?" Lin scoffed leaning her head back, shifting her weight onto one foot. "I don't get paranoid! Besides, my children are **_only_** my **_entire_** UNIVERSE!"

"Calm down," Tenzin said reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't want to see the play," Lin whispered more to Tenzin than anybody.

"Me neither, but I can't say I'm not curious. It could be fun," Tenzin reminded her, moving his hand in a circle on her back while she remained tense as ever with her signature scowl marring her beautiful face.

"I didn't realize you guys were out here," Pema said emerging from the Beifong Airship with Rohan in her arms. Lin and Tenzin jumped apart. Izumi stared right at Pema.

"We're all going to see a play tonight." she said affirmatively with the regal authority of the Fire Lord she was. "Surely the children can survive until morning ESPECIALLY with the extra security I've brought to leave. Besides, I'm sure Iroh and HuiFan can handle whatever antics your youngest sons engage in while we're away, if you would care to join us," Izumi said with a tone of mild contempt.

Pema glanced between Lin and Tenzin. "I suppose I'll have to."

"I should bring Baatar to balance things out! Where on earth is that man? I haven't seen him for days!" Suyin said rushing towards the Beifong Airship.

"Do you want to take one of the smaller airships or war balloons or a bison to Ember Island?" Tenzin asked.

"I think the bison would be the least conspicuous," Izumi replied.

"Really?" Kya asked sarcastically. "Because everyone has a flying bison, amirite?"

Izumi frowned. "Because when we can get close enough to be seen, you and Tenzin can whip up some cloud cover while Lin steers the bison," Izumi replied rolling her eyes.

"Ah right. I almost forgot about that bit. Most of us are benders." Kya thought aloud glancing over at Bumi and Pema.

Izumi sighed. "It will almost be like old times. Isn't it terrific?"

"Yeah... its just swell," Lin replied resuming her scowling.

She and Suyin changed out of their building uniform and into more casual greens for the voyage and bid all of their children goodbye, leaving Iroh and HuiFan in charge while the parents ventured to Ember Island. They all stopped by the Fire Lord's house for disguises.

"I won't fit in anything in here! I barely had breasts last time I came!" Suyin exclaimed as she sifted through her drawers for something to change into.

"I might have some old stuff in Tenzin's room," Lin offered going to check.

"Knock, knock, just need to pick up some stuff." Lin announced to Tenzin and Pema. She opened the top two drawers and bent the metal off of her arms in sort of a plus-sign pair of loops and scooped her clothing out of her drawers and departed from the room in a hurry.

Pema placed her hands on her hips and looked up at Tenzin inquisitively.

"I told you, the last time we were here was like twenty six years ago. Before even HungJian was born!" Tenzin replied shrugging. "So what if she has clothes in here?"

Pema rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration as she laid out clothes for the evening.

* * *

At dusk, the group all headed out to the play house. Izumi had the tickets pre-ordered so they could have their own box and hopefully some amount of privacy.

"Fire flakes anyone?" Bumi asked arriving late to the box with two large tubs of the spicy snack.

"Bumi, you're going to choke and die on those," Kya informed him bluntly.

"You don't know that!" Bumi replied defiantly.

Kya rolled her eyes.

Lin sat in the front row of their box first followed by Suyin and Baatar. Tenzin moved to join her in front but was beat by Izumi who took Lin's other side.

"Come sit by me, Lil' bro!" Bumi said patting the bench place beside him, seeing the disappointment on the airbender's face.

Tenzin didn't respond as he slid over next to Bumi with a frown, Pema joining him on his other side.

"Hush up! The show's about to start!" Izumi hissed at them.

As the lights came down low, a horribly shrill scream pieced through the room.

* * *

**PLAY**

"MAKE IT END SUGAR QUEEN OR I SWEAR ILL BLOOD BEND THE METAL IN YOUR VEINS TO MAKE YOU DELIVER IT FOR ME! GET HER OUT!" An actor barely resembling the first Chief Of Police Of Republic City screamed.

"Here she is! She's beautiful, Toph. Beautiful enough to make me Tearbend! Oh whahahahahahaha!" the busty actress playing Katara cried.

"Toph, if you're ever worried about her safety, you can always leave her here. I know the Triads lové stealing little children, and you promised one of my sons would have your first born daughter—-" a lady with an arrow on her head said with a ridiculously satisfied grin on her face.

"How dare you mention that night of cactus juice and brilliantly colored mushrooms ever again!" Toph yelled blindly pointing in the direction of the bald lady as he clutched the newborn baby in his muscular arms.

* * *

"Wait! My mom is STILL portrayed by a guy? A really buff guy?!" Lin asked picking out her ears and leaning forward on the railing in disbelief.

"And my Dad is STILL portrayed by a lady?" Kya asked.

Pema tapped Suyin on the shoulder. "Did your mom and Avatar Aang Really make some drunken bet that Lin would end up marrying one of the Avatar's sons?" Pema asked.

Suyin was laughing. "I don't know how they found out, but twenty three years after this, my mom had to pay Baldy the first a dowry of nearly five hundred thousand thousand yuans when it finally happened!" Suyin giggled while everyone else watched in horror.

Pema nearly chocked at the sheer amount of money the Beifong's has to give away. Oh wait! They're Beifongs!

* * *

**  
PLAY**

A little girl dressed in green with long messy wavy hair stood with a blindfold over her eyes, facing her rather masculine on-screen mother.

A horribly hollow scream now permeated the room. "And that my dear is how you see without your eyes!"

* * *

Everyone covered their ears again. "How can they STILL not understand? It is seismic sense! Not sonic sense!" Lin asked as the little girl mimicked the hollow scream of the male actor playing Toph while everyone covered their ears.

"They're Fire Nation. They don't understand what it is that vibrates through the earth." Izumi explained.

* * *

**  
PLAY**

[1]"Hey kid, looks like he's coming to see you!" Toph said with a smirk.

"But how can you see? He's not even walking. He's flying on one of those air scooter thingies."

"Because he's screaming your name!"

"HI LIN! HI AUNT TOPH! LIN DO YOU WANT TO GO PLAY?!" A baby bald child yelled running onstage waving frenetically.

"Mom, can I Earth bend at him?" Little Lin asked.

"I'd love to see that, my little Badgermole!" Toph replied beaming. [/1]

Little Lin kicked the ground and Tenzin flew up into the trees.

"Ow!" Little Tenzin cried hanging from the lowest branch.

"Oh no! Are you hurt?" Little Lin asked launching herself up to the branch, unhooking his foot and pulling him up to sit beside her.

"I'm alright, now that you're here," Little Tenzin replied holding her hand.

"Awwwwww!" A young actress playing Kya, actor playing Bumi and another young actress playing Suyin peeked our from behind the tree. "LIN AND TENZIN, SITTING IN A TREE K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Hehehehhehehe!" The children snickered.

Little Lin jumped down and earthbent them all off the stage while they laughed maniacally. "SHUT UP YOU THREE!"

"You're so cute when you're angry and embarrassed!" Toph added.

"And you too!" She said earthbending her mom away, folding her arms and beginning to cry.

"Don't cry! You're not very pretty when you cry," Little Tenzin said jumping off the bench to embrace his little on-stage friend.

"I don't care what I look like!" The actress said through her tears. "I know who I am!" The on screen actress said through exaggerated sobs.

"And I love that about you!" Tenzin replied.

She shoved him into the ground. "If you're going to be my boyfriend, you're going to have to still think I'm pretty at all times even if I don't believe you!" little Lin yelled as the curtains closed for the next time jump.

* * *

"Lin, are you crying?" Suyin asked placing a hand on her sister's back while Lin gripped the wooden railing in front of her even harder.

"Shut up, Su!" Lin replied with shaking arms.

"Damn, parents aside, they got you guys pegged!" Izumi exclaimed tossing her hands behind her head, leaning back against Kya's knees. She turned to see Tenzin had disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Izumi asked Bumi and Pema.

"Said he needed the bathroom," Pema answered.

Izumi turned to Lin and also put a comforting hand on her shoulder while Su's was resting on her sister's lower back. "You know, Lin. You're not very pretty when you cry" Izumi said teasingly. Lin stood up and shoved the Fire Lord off the bench and stormed off while Izumi, Suyin and Kya laughed.

"Awww... somethings never change!" Kya sighed bitter sweetly.

Wow, they're still rather mean to Lin and Tenzin, thought Pema as she followed Lin. She found the older woman in the ladies room crying.

"I don't care what I look like. I know who I am..." Lin said to herself in the mirror, brushing her hand over the two scars that marred her otherwise flawless complexion. She turned, metalbending the faucet off the counter and sealing the pipe underneath without realizing it, and chucked it into the mirror. It shattered as she covered her face with her metal gauntlets concealed in her wide, gold-lined crimson sleeves. She grabbed a towel and shook off the glass before wiping her face, recovering completely before heading back to her seat, not at all noticing Pema watching.

"Oh! Good! You're all back! While you were gone, Lin lost the bet to Kya and ended up arrested for changing her mom's face with hers on the statue outside the police station. Bumi joined the United forces and Lin cried. Kya moved away to travel the world as a healer and Lin cried again. Then Lin joined the police force and Suyin started ditching school, and Tenzin now shadows Aang or uncle Sokka most of the time at city hall and when he doesn't, he drops in on dangerous missions trying to protect Lin only to get betrayed by her for interfering with "Official Police Business". Oh and Tenzin tried to join the police with fake metalbending!" Bumi summarizes rapidly.

"So that's where Ikki got her talking speed..." Pema thought.

"Shh! It's starting again!" Izumi yelled.

* * *

**  
PLAY**

"How long will you be away?" A beautiful actress playing Lin asked her on-screen love interest.

"Four years,"

"Promise you won't forget me,"

"I promise," on-screen Tenzin replied and they kissed.

"How old were you?" Pema asked Tenzin.

"Twenty when my dad took me on that trip,"Tenzin replied sadly.

The next scene was when Lin caught Suyin driving for the Terra Triad and received her facial scars and the aftermath. Suyin and Lin watched with horror as the scene unfolded, both thinking their mother tore up the report.

"You can't cover this up! There were witnesses!" onscreen Lin yelled.

"I'm the chief of police! I can't have a daughter in jail!" Toph yelled.

"So once again Su gets to do whatever she wants with NO CONSEQUENCES!"

Toph sighed. "This is our only option."

But the scene continued at home.

[2]"You know what Lin? Let's arrest Su. What happens next? Have you even thought about that Do you even care? The couple months or years in jail at the very least, a triad and a criminal record. How does that POSSIBLY help Su? What does that accomplish besides slapping another gold star on YOUR record?"

This isn't about - Su can't just do whatever she wants! I'm trying to help protect innocent people! You know, OUR job?"

"What about protecting your sister? That's our job too."

"Mom, you can't just make exceptions for certain people."

"I... will ALWAYS make exceptions for my family. Spirits Lin! At least Su knows what she did is wrong.

"How can you say that?"

"I WILL NOT LOCK MY DAUGHTER UP... If you really have a problem with that, why don't you arrest ME, Lin? Abuse of power? You saw me tear up the report! I'll even confess? What's that? No?"

Lin threw the table and ran down the hall knocking everything off the walls and collapsing some of the house's foundation in her rage. "FINE! YOU WIN! Sorry for doing NOTHING WRONG!" She screamed walking out.[/2]

* * *

"How did anyone hear about that?" Lin gasped fighting back another wave of emotions.

"You must have yelled really loudly." Kya suggested.

* * *

**  
PLAY**

"You should have let my mother heal it!" onstage Tenzin said compassionately cupping her chin.

"It doesn't matter!" She replied swatting his hand away. "I don't care what I look like. I know who I am!"

"I know. And for what it's worth, I think you're beautiful. Scarred or unscarred, angry, happy, or sad. You're still just Lin to me, and I love you, Lin Beifong, will you marry me?" and the two performers kissed while the spectators cooed.

* * *

Pema found Lin out on the balcony.

"What do you want, Pema?" Lin asked not turning away from the moon reflecting in the ocean water off in the distance.

"Did he actually ask you to marry him?" Pema asked.

Lin laughed. "You're really asking that? You should be able to deduce the answer to your question yourself. I'm not blind nor deaf. I heard Su tell you my children are legitimate at the retirement gala. Why even ask? Just to mock me with what you currently have?" Lin asked turning to pierce through the soul of the Air Acolyte with her brilliant green eyes. They both thought the other looked so strange in their Fire Nation attire and different hair styles.

"No, I just- wanted to hear it from you," Pema replied. "I almost didn't believe Su."

Lin exhaled sharply and returned her gaze to the moon. "Yes. He asked me to marry him. And I accepted. I accepted knowing full well that the White Lotus would be breathing down our necks for the rest of our lives. I accepted knowing that the status of our marriage depended solely on my ability to produce airbending children. I was willing to take that chance. HE was worth it. Alas, the fucking White Lotus couldn't wait for Jiexue to start bending, if she ever would bend. They saw my earth benders creating earthquakes in infancy, but saw not a single breeze from the girl by the time she was three. They were convinced I had three earthbenders, two nonbenders and no time left, and they made me leave."

"So Tenzin never stopped loving you?"

"I doubt that. He had to stop loving me, or he would have never been able to have a family with you," Lin scoffed.

"But you still love him? You'd still do anything for him, make his children happy even if they're not yours, and try to fix our relationship for the sake of Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan?" Pema asked.

"It's my duty. I swore to serve him-" Lin said curling her left fist around something even tighter.

"What is it?"

"Not yours to see," Lin replied firmly. "Tell the others I'll be on the beach. I won't watch anymore of this." Lin said jumping off the railing of the balcony of the play house, and starting down the Main Street alone.

Pema watched her go until she was too far to see before returning to her seat.

"Where's Linny?" Bumi asked light heartedly slapping Pema on the back.

"She went to the beach,"

"Ah well, she's a pretty decent sandbender. I wouldn't worry." Suyin replied leaning on Baatar's shoulder, closing her eyes briefly.

"Did you see Tenzin when you were out?" Izumi asked.

"No. Did he leave again?" Pema asked.

"Yeah, but he claimed it was just to get some fire flakes." Kya informed everyone.

"I'm back!" Tenzin said sitting down.

"Great! You're just in time for the honeymoon!" Kya exclaimed stealing some of Tenzin's fire flakes.

"Lin and I never went on a honeymoon! We were too busy working," Tenzin replied curiously turning his attention to the stage.

* * *

**  
PLAY**

Tenzin and Lin entered a little restaurant in a tiny village in the earth kingdom. 

"Two cups of jasmine tea, please." 

"Yes, right away!" the server lady said. 

Something about the server lady didn't seem right. 

After Lin and Tenzin finished their tea, the server lady picked up the four year old that had been playing with a ball on the floor. 

"Look there, Pema. There is your destiny. You will be the gateway to a better future for all of us. You will marry him and give him plenty of airbending babies." 

_...six years later..._

"But Mama, he has a wife!" 

"But she will be unable to bear him any children after drinking the nightshade I slipped into her tea six years ago. Go! Train to be an air acolyte. Woo him. With your status as the wife of the dutiful wife last airbender, we can break free of this dreary cycle of poverty!" 

_...ten years later..._

"Oh Tenzin! I love you! Tenzin and I can't stand seeing you so unhappy with Chief Beifong! I would do anything for you and your gentle and kind heart! You don't deserve all of this conflict, all of this violence! You deserve someone kind, someone loving, someone who will give you all of the airbenders you desire! Come away with me to the Northern Air Temple where we can make love and sleep among the clouds and give each other flower crowns and enjoy sunshine and LIFE every day!" 

_...fifteen years later..._

A heavily pregnant 35 year old Pema was speaking to Avatar Korra and Jinora. 

"And so I confessed my love to Tenzin, and the rest was history!" Pema said proudly. "And so concludes the Song of Earth and Air." 

* * *

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF RAAVA WAS THAT?!" Pema exclaimed. 

Tenzin's jaw dropped. How could everything up to that point have been so painfully accurate? Tenzin thought to himself in horror. "That was absolutely horrible." 

"The worst!" Kya agreed. 

"Yeah! We were WAY more annoying!" Bumi added. 

"I didn't even get to be a part of it!" Izumi complained throwing her hands in the air as they back towards Izumi's vacation house. 

"Su and Baatar both fell asleep," Kya noticed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] inspired by fan art and caption from fandomfreakart on tumblr
> 
> [2] dialogue from comic by makanidotdot on tumblr
> 
> Ugh! Enjoy this monstrosity. This play is supposed to be some sort of tragic romance or something, not a comedy like 'The Boy in the Iceberg'.
> 
> As always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! :)


	21. Fall Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi readers! Sorry if the last chapter was confusing. It alternated between play scenes and the Gaang's Kids' reactions. Pema's mom did not actually say that about her needing to be Tenzin's wife in the tea shop when she was four yeaers old. ALSO, if the lady actually existed, and put some potion in the tea to mess with Lin's fertility, how would she have six children in my AU? Anyways, that crazy ending as the "demise" of the Song of Earth and Air was just the fake guessed ending (Like how in the Boy in the Iceberg, it ended with Aang losing to the fire lord since Pu On Tim knew a lot of things, but not EVERY thing :)))) Happy reading!
> 
> DISCLAIMER! IF YOU ACTUALLY LIKE PEMA (like REALLY like her) stop reading because I am turning her into THE ENEMY!
> 
> :P
> 
> XD

_Enjoy the rest of your life with Lin and our kids in the spirit world... if you make it in time..._

_~ The Solution  
_

* * *

Tenzin looked up from the small piece of parchment fraught with confusion. There was the sound of a low but deep rumbling coming from the front of the air ship. Tenzin shoved the letter in his robes and ran to the atrium sensing something bad happening.

"We need to get out!" he yelled as they heard the first of the explosions went off.

"Everyone get in the middle!" Jiexue yelled creating a massive protective shield. Tenzin used his own airbending to break into her bubble and join his family. HuiFan closed her eyes and tore a hole in the space rug to place a hand on the metal floor of the airship.

"There's a bomb in the table!" Huifan yelled. She bent it out of the wooden structure by it's earthen components and kicked it out of the air shield as bombs went off all around tearing up the inside of the massive air ship, sending shrapnel everywhere, shattering the walls of windows.

"Let's get out of here!" Jinora yelled.

They moved en-mass off of the air ship and towards the temple as the entire thing began to droop off of the mountain side with no working engine.

"What if more bombs are there?" HungJian asked turning and nodding at the temple.

HuiFan kicked up a pillar and slammed both fists into it. "There aren't. They were only on our airship." HuiFan walked over to the crew's airship and the supply ship. All clear.

"Someone wanted to kill us all!" Kang panicked, arms flailing as he ran into his mother's arms.

"But who would do such a thing?" Jinora asked with tears in her eyes, clutching Xiaoyu and Opal for support.

"Lin, Su-" Tenzin handed them the letter he found among his mail just before the first bomb went off.

"Where was Pema in all this?" Lin asked indicating the destroyed airship, handing the piece of parchment back to Tenzin..

"No, this is written her hand," Tenzin replied. "I think she's gone."

"Like dead gone or gone gone?" Kya asked to clarify.

"She betrayed us," Tenzin breathed.

"Daddy, where's Mommy?" Meelo asked walking over.

"Mommy left." Tenzin replied.

"Is she dead?" Meelo inquired

"No, no, she— we got into a fight and sometimes when Mommy's and Daddies fight, someone leaves. It is only for a short while though."

"When will she come back?" Meelo asked.

"I don't know," Tenzin sighed.

Just then they saw their chefs and the remaining domestic crew stumbling out. Lin, HungJian, Suyin, Wing and Wei rushed to help them.

"They've inhaled a lot of smoke!" Suyin announced.

"Bring them here!" Jiexue said bending the smoke out and fresh air into Mo's Lungs while Xiaoyu did the dame for Doan.

"Why don't we camp in the temple tonight and tomorrow Su and I will go into town and see if we can borrow a radio and contact Republic City or Ba Sing Se for another airship," Lin suggested to everyone.

"I'll take first watch," Suyin offered.

The next day, Suyin and Lin took Oogi to the nearest village and parked him in a nearby wood and went to find a phone.

"The only radio I know of is in the tower, but that's controlled by the soldiers." They turned. There was a tower built on on a nearby hill but it was entirely made of wood.

"Why would they need a wooden tower?"

The merchant beckoned them closer. "It's a prison for the earthbenders!" he whispered.

"Huh?"

"Why?"

"Who's against the earth benders?" Suyin demanded. _How could I not know of this in my own kingdom?!_

"We don't know who they are, only that somehow they seem to know who bent and who hadn't," the old man said.

"Help! SOMEONE HELP! KIDNAPPER!" Someone yelled.

The cop in Lin instantly took over as she bent natal strips over the kidnapper's eyes and ankles as he dropped the child.

"I knew it! METALBENDERS!" The merchant yelled as men in Black robes appeared with ropes.

Lin ducked and rolled as Suyin threw a half dozen guards into the fruit stand.

"Let's get out of here!" Su said.

"Yeah, no shit!"

Just then the ground swallowed them whole and in the dark they were chi-blocked then knocked out.

They woke with their legs tied to wooden chairs and wrists tied behind.

"Well, well, we'll, if it isn't the Earth Queen and the Former Chief Of Police of Republic City? I might just be the luckiest man alive and finally be able to get what I want." the man said he turned around. There was no mistaking the man's stupid stringy little moustache. Lieutenant.

"Who's your leader now?"

"Someone you're both VERY familiar with, I'm sure," Lieutenant replied casually.

"Hello Lin, Suyin," a cool and cheery voice said with an uncharacteristic undertone of threat.

"You bombed the airship!" Suyin yelled.

"Guilty as charged," Pema replied standing beside Lieutenant, putting her arm around him affectionately. Lin couldnt help but want to simultaneously gag, gauge her eyes out, rip the Lieutenant's mustache off of his face and strangle Pema.

"What do you want from us?"

"Your lives, your glory, your BENDING, but we all know that's impossible. So I figured your lives will suffice. But first, you will be the bait. When Tenzin and Kya and Bumi and Izumi and your children come after you? We will kill them too," Pema said.

"They'll never fall for it!" Lin snapped.

"They already have," Pema replied. "Your prodigious bending families' days of ruling the world are over. It is time for true equality and an opportunity for the world to start anew without the oppressive rules your parents inflicted on the people of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation! Now enough talking throw them in the highest cell away from the ground!" Pema ordered.

"Didn't know she had it in her," Lin commented to her sister as they were thrown in.

"Yeah."

Suyin crawled over to the edge and looked down.

"It is a long way down."

"Yeah, no kidding." Lin scoffed. "AND THIS IS WHY I ALWAYS WORE MY ARMOR, EVEN OFF DUTY!" Lin grumbled.

"Don't worry, Lin. We just have to be patient. Tenzin will come," Suyin said.

"That's the whole point. We are the bait. She wants to kill everybody!" Lin replied throwing her hands in the air. "What was I thinking?! We should have just flown straight to Republic City or Ba Sing Se ourselves and retrieved our own airships. We have sky bison for spirits' sake!" Lin ranted as she paced in the cell with her wrists still tied.

"Well it's over now. We're here. Stop pacing. Save your energy for when we can fight again!" Suyin yelled.

"Fine!" Lin said dropping onto her bottom with a thud and a huff.

* * *

"We should go after them," HuiFan said.

"No! The village is probably just too small so they had to fly further. I'm sure they'll be back by nightfall!" Tenzin replied.

That night HungJian, HuiFan, and Jiexue sneaked out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jinora and Opal asked sitting guard by the bison.

"We need to get our mother back," the three replied.

"Well, our mothers are missing too," Wing and Wei said joining them.

"Oh jeez! What will Tenzin think when he's found we've all deserted him?" Jiexue sighed.

"We? They're not coming!" HuiFan said indicating Jinora, Opal, Wing and Wei.

"Stop being a stubborn Beifong! Wherever you go, you can't stop us from following! You seem to forget the same blood runs through US TOO!" Opal said defiantly.

"Fine! You can come! But DON'T get in the way!" Huifan growled. The four earthbenders and three airbenders all climbed on and flew to the village under the cover of night, the airbenders disguised in Earth Kingdom clothes.

"Let's stay by Pepper until morning," Jinora suggested with a green headband covering her arrow.

* * *

The next morning they ventured into town as a group.

"There is an awfully large network of tunnels underneath this seemingly insignificant village," HuiFan whispered to HungJian and Jiexue.

"HuiFan! The fruit merchant has MANGOES!" Jinora exclaimed running over.

The Beifongs all walked over wearily.

"Let me handle this," HuiFan said moving Jinora by the shoulder behind her and into Hungjian's arms. She slammed three gold coins on the counter and turned around facing her back to him and got comfortable leaning against the counter.

HungJian shrugged. Jiexue folded her arms and Opal glanced sideways at her twin brothers.

"That's enough for this whole cart!" the merchant gasped in disbelief.

"Then we'll take the whole cart, call button and all," HuiFan said turning around again, drilling into the man's soul with her piercing green eyes. She leaned over the counter towards him as the gold coins she put down ensnared his wrists. "You seem like a well informed man in this town. Yesterday, two greying older women passed through this village, one my height, and the other slightly taller. Both were asking for a phone. Where did they go?" HuiFan asked lifting the man onto his toes by the gold band.

"I- I don't know. We're just told to report any earthbenders!"

"By who?"

"The Equalists!"

HuiFan frowned. She threw the man into the back of the shop and destroyed the call button under the counter with her metalbending "Keep the gold. Jinora, take your mango, let's keep looking." HuiFan ordered.

"Jinora!" Jiexue screamed.

The man had a second call button. The reaction time was instantaneous as he hit it, HuiFan turned, and the ground swallowed Opal and Jinora whole.

HuiFan could feel them in the tunnels and immediately tore the road from the main street of the tillage, flinging the debris over the roofs of the strip of houses and shops in a fantastic feat of earthbending. She jumped in the tunnel evading the chi blockers and blocking them herself.

"Let them go!" Jiexue yelled running forward, leaping over her sister, jumping into the tunnel blasting the chi blockers away from Jinora and Opal with a circular air current.

They jumped out of the tunnel and HuiFan collapsed it. She reached further collapsing as many tunnels as she could feel.

* * *

"We need to get you moved!" a group of masked equalists announced barging into the tower-top cell, grabbing Lin and Suyin off the ground.

"Why?" Su asked.

"We are going to blow up this tower," Pema replied entering calmly. They bound the two Beifongs arms and legs up to the elbows to minimize their bending ability as they were being transported and the wooden tower blew up.

* * *

"What was that?" HuiFan turned to the merchant who began to laugh maniacally.

"That, my dear, was the earthbender prison. Your mothers were in a holding cell at the very top level. Even if they jumped, they wouldn't have survived," the man said with a devious grin.

"No!" HuiFan yelled. She jumped and slammed her fist into the ground shaking the entire northern half of the Earth Kingdom, the tremor reaching Republic City and the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. As she stood up, a ripple coursed through the town collapsing almost every house like they were made of match sticks. And she brought the tower down. Then she turned to the merchant and listened to his laugh.

"You're lying! They were moved-" HuiFan yelled.

"HuiFan! Stop! They're trying to distract us. We should just move on!" Jinora said grabbing her sister's hand.

She wrenched it away and rejoined the group.

"If your earthbending was powerful enough to shake everything this far away," Jinora began to think as they reached Pepper and looked out on the broken trees and fissures in the ground. "What does that mean for your seismic sense? Maybe you can find Aunt Lin and Aunt Su that way."

HuiFan took a deep breath and slammed a rock pillar up so she could dig both palms and feet into the earth. "I think this way," she said pointing. They flew and she pointed down at a torn up meadow.

"Under here!" She tore a massive gauge in the ground and tossed it aside and they saw their mother's crouched on the ground, a hooded figure dragging a rope that pulled their mothers'.

HuiFan jumped into the opened tunnel and shot the one holding the rope out hung Juan ran over with a blade and cut out Lin and Su and the airbenders blew away the oncoming chi blockers-"

Wing and Wei ensnared the hooded figure trying to flee and pulled her back. Jinora yanked off the hood.

"Mom?" Jinora gasped stepping away from Pema in shock and fear.

"Honey! Love! It's not what it seems-"

"YOU BOMBED THE AIRSHIP!" Jinora realized. "AND YOU CAPTURED AUNT Lin AND AUNT SU?!"

"I needed them to get out of the way-" Pema explained.

"OF WHAT? YOU'RE AN AIR ACOLYTE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FIGHT OR ENGAGE IN THESE TYPES OF THINGS-"

"I am also your mother and you have to understand all I have done has been to keep you safe-"

"Keep me safe? I WAS ON THAT AIRSHIP WHEN YOU DECIDED TO BLOW IT UP! YOU tried to KILL me!" Jinora replied.

"Listen!"

"No. I'm through listening-"

"Your father was acting... questionable and I had to test his loyalty."

"Questionable? I KNOW my father. And I KNOW Aunt Lin! They would never engage in something so immoral but you? ATTEMPTED MURDER? You're a stranger and I NEVER want to see you again!" Jinora yelled. She blew her bison whistle and Pepper landed nearby.

"Let's go," Jinora ordered herding the eight Beifongs back towards the bison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a review if you have time:)


	22. The Beginning of the End

The building crew's airship and the Royal Fire Nation airship pulled into the Future Industries' Air field on an early weekday afternoon to find Future Industries' CEO Asami waiting patiently to greet them.

"I just wanted to inform you that there are no persons in the vicinity or in the premises without the proper security clearance." Asami said to Lin as she disembarked the Fire Nation Airship.

"Thank you, Asami," Lin replied.

"May I ask what happened to the Earthen Fire Airship?" Asami asked curiously.

"We lost the flagship in a bombing. I'm having two others sent from Gaoling to be sent here for docking and storage. Don't worry about the risks with being associated with it. In addition to the space rental fees, we will also compensate you with arms protection. Both airships are being converted into war machines capable of defending themselves and your airfield from any aerial attack," Lin reassured the young CEO of Future Industries.

"Do you foresee a need for my airfield to need that level of protection?"

"It's hard to tell so early on," Lin replied turning to watch her children disembark.

"Did something happen?"

"Pema bombed the flagship." Suyin answered before lifting the future Industries CEO by the collar. "And NO ONE will hear about it until we figure out why!"

"Ms. Beifong and Chief, er… Former Chief Beifong… I can help! Korra can help!" replied Asami in desperation.

"I'd rather you kids stay out of it. I believe this is a family matter," Lin replied walking past her.

It was quite a sight on the metro when both branches of the Beifong families, the royal family of the Fire Nation, the former councilman for the Air Nation, Former Commander of the united Forces, and the healer of the southern Water Tribe boarded the public trains of Republic City unwilling to be separated on different sky bison or trollies or into a caravan of satomobiles as they made their way to the docks to catch the ferry to Air Temple Island.

People stared and whispered as the former Chief of Police walked carrying councilman Tenzin's three year old son, Rohan while the toddler's mother was nowhere to be seen. News spread quickly and by the train's fourth stop en route to the docks, photographers and reporters from the daily post had arrived at the station trying to board the train and catch a glimpse of the families. There was no doubt that by morning the papers would be full of speculation and rumors.

"Should I get rid of them, Mom?" Huifan asked her mother.

"Only if you feel like you must. I've become accustomed to just ignoring them. Like a weed or a parasite, you will find you can never permanently rid yourself of them. So, I stopped wasting my energy." Lin replied running her hand over her eldest daughter's two signature braids. Huifan nodded in understanding and continued to stand, waiting patiently for the train to arrive at the docks.

"Here we are. Home again, almost," Tenzin announced leading the way off the train and towards the docks.

"Chief Beifong, what's going on?" a reporter asked.

"Fire Lord Izumi, what brings you and your children to Republic City?" another shouted over the first.

"Excuse me! Beautiful lady! Will you go on a date with me? I'm a student at Republic City University studying class division and sociology and wanted to do a report on the young social elite!" a young reporter said reaching for Huifan.

Huifan turned around quickly as a camera flashed in her face. She bent a pillar out of the road beneath both the student reporter and his friend photographer and launched them both over fifty feet in the air as they screamed.

"Huifan! Be gentle with them!" Lin scolded grabbing the young woman's arm, pushing her towards the ferry.

Wing and Wei created an earth barrier to hold the reporters back while everyone boarded and ten ran after their family.

"Well, that was exciting!" Huifan exclaimed turning away from the crowd to find both parents frowning at her.

"You could have seriously injured somebody. You must learn to ignore their words. Don't give them any reason to write a story!" Lin explained Huifan sighed.

"But that seems like such a boring existence! I am tired of it!"

* * *

As they neared the docks, they spotted two old, white-haired women waiting for them. One wore blue robes with white fur trim while the other wore green robes with pale yellow trim and a brown leather belt.

"Grandma Toph!" Opal exclaimed sprinting off of the ferry to the old woman in green.

"Gran Gran!" Jinora, Ikki and Meelo exclaimed swarming the old woman in blue.

"Mom?" Suyin asked in disbelief as she embraced her mother.

"Hey Su," Toph replied returning the hug.

"Hey Chief." Lin said formally addressing her mother with a nod of the head, shifting Rohan to her other hip.

"Hey Chief," Toph grumbled. Her faced scrunched up in scrutiny. "Why are you holding the spawn of the bitch that stole your husband!"

"MOM! Watch your language around Rohan! Regardless of his lineage, he is still just a boy and incredibly impressionable!" Lin said covering one of Rohan's ears with her hand and pressing the other against her chest protectively.

"Good! Teach him to not be a heartbreaker like his spirit-damned mother!" Toph replied.

"Mom! I'm not kidding! STOP!" Lin insisted. She uncovered Rohan's ears and looked him straight in the eyes, mesmerizing him. "Rohan, don't EVER repeat anything that comes out of my mother's mouth, you got that?" Rohan just stared back at her. She sighed. "Jiexue, Jinora, can you take Rohan inside for a bit while I-"

"Of course!" Jinora said jogging over.

"Na ah! Baatar and Junior over there can babysit while you and I talk!" Toph said putting a hand out to stop Jiexue and Jinora.

Lin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and frustration with her mother. Her heartreat increased with rage and heat filled her face.

"I'm not a baby!" Rohan protested wrapping his arms around Lin's neck.

"Seriously, Mom! What the flameo are you doing?" Lin asked thoroughly confused about why her mother was anywhere but that wretched swamp in the first place.

"Rohan, ya hear that? Don't every repeat anything that comes out of her mouth either!" Toph said to the three year old. "Anyways, to answer your question, I'm here because you've been careless. TENZIN! Get your airfilled bald head over here too!" Toph yelled at the airbending master. Katara released her youngest son from her and urged him towards the inventor of metalbending.

"Yes, Aunt Toph?" Tenzin asked hanging his head in shame.

"YOU better round up all of your airbenders and get back to training. I know you don't like violence, but I 'spect it can't be avoided for too long, now," Toph suggested.

"Why?"

"You've been careless. I've been watching you all for a while now and couldn't just keep sitting and watching any longer,"

"Careless?" Tenzin asked.

"Pema's out for blood and not just my family's because of you. She's convinced herself all benders adre up to no good. and has teamed up with Amon's old right hand, that Lieutenant guy with the stupid moustache!" They can't take away a person's bending with blood or energy, but they can take away a person's bending when their live comes with it. They've already begun testing different ways to accomplish this," Toph explained.

"What?!" Lin was shocked.

"Like the bombs that blew up the Beifong flagship!" Jinora exclaimed.

"Precisely!" Toph then turned around. Huifan, Hungjian, Jinkun, Huan, YES YOU, YOU LAZY PIECE OF WORK-" Toph yelled when she sensed reluctance in the young man's gait.

"Mother! Do NOT speak to my son that way! You'll crush his individuality!" Suyin scolded stepping protectively in front of her son.

"Like you are doing now?" Toph asked with a raised eyebrow before breaking her hard features into a laugh. "Eh! Touguhen up. My parents tried to crush my individuality as soon as I was out of the wound, but did that stop me from being the greatest earthbender in the world? Nope! You gotta grow a thick skin, you feeble turtleduck! That flimsy shell you got there can't protect you like a callus could!" Toph explained. "Twins, YOU TOO! Get over here so your grandmother can teach you guys some REAL metalbending!"

"OH YEAH!" the twins cheered high fiving before sprinting over both boiling with excitement.

"Oh dear," Suyin sighed covering her face as her mother lead her metalbending sons away.

"Kya, my dear. I think it is time I taught you bloodbending." Katara said to her daughter.

"But Mom! It is illegal! You were the one to push the ban on that bending form seventy-five years ago!" Kya protested.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, my love. I want you to be prepared for anything so that when the time comes, you can protect your family, my sweet," Katara insisted.

Kya resigned and followed her mother albeit reluctantly.

"I guess we better get training too," Tenzin said to Jiexue and Jinora.

"Aunt Katara, what should Su and Zumzu and I do?" Lin asked.

"If you wouldn't mind, dinner would e nice around seven," Katara replied as gently as she could.

Lin sighed in disappointment before turning to Mo and Doan expectingly.

"Vegetarian?" They asked.

"Yes, unfortunately." Lin replied apologetically.

"So how is your lightening?" Izumi asked iroh and Ursa.

"Fine,"

"Okay," Iroh replied.

"Oh, and Lin, darling!" Katara said turning around again to face the former Chief of Police. "I think it would be safe for you to start wearing your necklace again. I highly doubt Pema will ever come back to Tenzin based on Toph's observations through the vines," Katara informed Lin.

"It's really that bad?" Lin asked Katara.

"Yes."

Lun uncurled her fingers beckoning the obsidian pendant down her arm to her hand. The earth and air sumble gleamed in gold on the shiny black surface of the stone.

"Spirits! Lin! That is beautiful!" Suyin exclaimed.

"I haven't worn it around my neck in fifteen years." Lin replied.

"I've never seen you wear it all!"

"He carved it in black so it would blend in with my chief of police uniform and not be seen," Lin said as a warm smile crossed her face.

"And you still never let it go?"

"No."

"I'll take Rohan if you want to go protect Huan from Toph," Izumi offered.

"It is alright. Thank you for the offer, but not even the both of us can defeat or mother when she has her mind set on something," Suyin informed the Fire Lord as they settled in the living room of the main house.

"Excuse me Ma'ams. Your majesty," an air acolyte said entering the room, turning to Izumi. "Lord Zuko is on the temple phone asking for you."

"Really?" Izumi asked standing to follow. "Hello?"

"Hello Sweetie!" Zuko said from the other side of the line. "I need you to issue an order to name me interim Fire Lord."

"Dad, why?" Izumi asked suspiciously. Ordinarily, she trusted every word of advice from her father as well as his judgement and call on anything she questioned or remained at all apprehensive about.

"So you can be free to help your friends without any political repercussions in these desperate times of need," Zuko explained.

"Did Toph set you up to this?" Izumi asked.

"Yes."

"Do you really think we'll be so needed in the battle to come?" Izumi asked, growing genuinely worried.

"Yes. As much as I want to keep you and my grandchildren out of harm's way, I think it would be better for you to fight and live to return to the Fire Nation than bring our entire Nation back into war on Earth Kingdom Territory. I know you will survive. These are just non-benders with very crude goals. I trust you can help the Beifongs deal with them quickly. I am certain you will survive." Zuko said.

Izumi took a deep breath. "Very well. Hand the phone to the Fire Sages." Izumi ordered waiting a moment. "I, Fire Lord Izumi hereby order the throne of the Fire Lord returned to my father, Zuko, son of Ozai and Ursa for an indefinite amount of time." Izumi said loudly and clearly over the phone.

"Reasons?" the fire sage asked.

"As the current Fire Lord, I don't need a reason and can have you banished for questioning my authority and defying orders. Would you prefer I do that, or will you reinstate my father as Fire Lord?" Izumi asked.

"Forgive me, my Lord. We will crown your father immediately!" the fire sage responded quickly.

"Good." Izumi said sternly hanging up the phone.

* * *

By dinner time, Jinkun and Huan were both bruised and limping. Kya was shaking, and Toph and Katara appeared rather satisfied with their work that day.

"Where are the airbenders?" Lin asked not even needing to count the number of people in the crowded dining room to know a significant number of their family members were missing.

"I'll get them, Ms. Beifong!" Ursa exclaimed sailing out the door like the elegant princess she was.

"Thank you, Ursa!" Lin called after her, helping Mo and Doan carry out platters and bowls from the kitchens.

"I really like this kitchen, my lady, although it was rather difficult to cook for so many people without any blade larger than that on a paring knife," Mo commented to Suyin.

"Why on earth would Air Temple Island not have a proper knife set?" Suyin thought aloud.

Lin frowned and lifted her hand, bending her metal arm guards into a sword. "Nezt time you encounter a shortage of knives, tell one of us and we'll make you a new set, okay?" Lin told the pair of chefs. "You don't deserve any more suffering."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Mo replied saluting his master's sister.

"We're back!" Jiexue announced as she, Xiaoyu, Kang, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Opal, and Tenzin made their entrance into the crowded family dining room.

"What did you work on today?" Lin asked always conscious to express interest in every day of each of her children's lives.

"Funnels, nothing we can't do already," Jiexue replied with a casual, yet confident shrug.

"How tall is your highest funnel, Girly?" Toph asked rather loudly with a tone of skepticism while chewing loudly on a piece of fried tofu.

"Eighty-four feet, ten and seventeen thirty second inches," Jiexue replied promptly.

"Nevermind," Toph replied smacking away.

"Trying to intimidate my children?" Lin asked with a pride filled smirk.

"Fine! Congratulations! You have talented kids!" Toph asked waving a hand dismissively.

"Is your mother ever happy?" Izumi whispered to Suyin across the room.

"You've met her, Princess. What do you think?" Suyin asked sarcastically.

"Riiiiiiiight," Izumi giggled.

"HEY! I'M BLIND NOT DEAF, YOU TWO!" Toph yelled throwing a piece of bread at each of them while the children's jaws dropped in shock.

"Excuse me!" A distraught looking air acolyte said running in on the verge of tears, straight to Lin as if for protection. "Forgive me for intruding!"

"There is nothing to forgive! What happened?" Lin asked.

"President Raiko and Chief of Police, Mako have requested an audience with you and Councilman Tenzin immediately!" the air acolyte cried.

"Chief of Police- Mako? You left a FIREBENDING BOY in charge of MY police force?" Toph asked looking clearly offended.

"DEMANDED, NOT REQUESTED!" the bellowing voice of President Raiko echoed through the acoustic wooden-walled dining room as he stormed in followed by a rather embarrassed young chief of police. "Speak, BOY!" Raiko ordered the Chief of Police like a lord ordered a slave.

"This evening the police department received a letter demanding that we deliver the Lady Lin Beifong to the alleyway between Dinh's Dumpling House and Narooks Seaweed Noodlery by midnight tonight," Mako explained.

Lin wanted to laugh but maintained her trained composure when speaking with people with political prominence. "Who was the sender?"

"We don't know."

"What are the consequences if I don't go?"

"None were listed."

"Then WHY would I waste my time going?" Lin asked Mako.

"THE CITY COULD BE IN DANGER!" Raiko yelled.

"Or the letter could have been sent by some unfortunate teenager who lost a bet!" Lin replied quickly. "My mother could tell you all of the shit I pulled with the police station before I hit puberty because of the bets I lost to THIS ONE!" Lin said indicating a guilty Kya. "I suggest you leave, Mr. President."

"You cannot order me around. As a citizen of Republic City-"

"You are the president of Republic City, not a Dictator of the Air Nomads or Air Temples, President Raiko. Lin Beifong and everyone else here are under MY protection for the time being and I CAN order you to leave this island immediately," Tenzin said authoritatively standing up from his seat, towering over Raiko by nearly an entire head.

Lin ignored the growing tension between the two men and looked down at her food, taking a bite of it calmly as the men stared each other down. Raiko glanced between the airbending master and the former chief of police suspiciously but decided against saying another word and left with the baffled current chief of police in tow.

"I SWEAR, I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A SPINELESS CHIEF OF POLICE IN HISTORY! DID YOU FEEL HIS HEART POUNDING, LINNY? I AM SURPRISED HE HADN'T SHAT IN HIS PANTS ONCE RAIKO DECIDED IT WAS TIME FOR THEM TO LEAVE! THE KID WAS SCARED OUT OF HIS WITS BY A BUNCH OF CIVILIANS! HE'S WEAK!" Toph ranted perfectly aware that both the President and the Police Chief could still hear her halfway to the docks.

"Mother! Mako is a good kid! I am sure Raiko just grilled him before coming here!"

"Raiko's just another spineless twit! If Mako had a backbone and a dick, he wouldnn't be so bothered by that wack politician!" Toph replied.

"Mom! Seriously! Your language needs help! Ikki is only ELEVEN and Meelo is NINE!" Lin yelled in exasperation.

"Whatever!" Toph yelled folding her arms stubbornly.

Tenzin sat down beside Lin and rubbed her back soothingly while she too folded her arms in frustration.

Huifan and her earthbending brothers, and Suyin's twins cackled at the exchange while the rest of the family looked between Toph and Lin, all still in shock. Meanwhile, Katara merely shook her head in quiet disapproval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I was going to call this chapter "Two Old Ladies", but then I realized the two old ladies spend most of the chapter training their kids/grand kids. I guess Lin's generation is kinda old too, but they all are still badass af. I really don't know what to call this chapter and want to change it. If you have any ideas, can you DM to me? I may change it tomorrow:) Don't forget to comment/review! All criticism is heavily appreciated!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toph is a harsh earthbending trainer as we've seen in Bitter Work in ATLA. Even Su and Lin combined could never beat her. Nobody enjoyed sparring with their granny yesterday except for one young lady. One, whom Toph always knew would replace her as the greatest earthbender (and metalbender) in the world. And Toph is perfectly okay with that.

"So what is on the training agenda for today, Grandma Toph?" Huifan asked Toph who sat on an earthen recliner with one leg crossed over the other knee, picking at her toes.

"You're looking at it!" the grumpy old earthbender replied.

Huifan raised her leg with superior flexibility and inspected the space etween her toes. "But my feet are clean."

"Are they?" Toph asked setting her foot down with a heavy thud whilst sitting up, reducing the ground beneath Huifan's feet to mud, bending it between her granddaughter's toes intentionally, tickling her as she fell into the puddle.

"UGH!" Huifan groaned standing up bending the dirt from her clothing, but unable to get rid of the water. "MOM!" She screamed marching towards the main house. "Your mom is CRAZY!"

"That's what you get for actually wanting to train with me!" Toph yelled after her.

As Huifan closed her eyes in frustration, her seismic sense took over her vision and she saw her other grandmother, Katara crouched behind Toph's earthen recliner laughing silently, but wildly.

"She has your affinity for cleanliness, and your temper, definitely, Sugar Queen!" Toph joked.

"Cleanliness?"

"She acts like a lady!"

"As I understand it, it was YOUR little Linny who had them sitting up straight at the dinner table at the age of four!" Katara argued.

"Nah! Linny wouldn't- Nevermind, she would..." Toph frowned as Katara cackled in victory.

* * *

Master Tenzin! The ferry is approaching with a squadron of metalbending police! Come quickly!" an air acolyte warned Tenzin in a panic, running towards the turning airbending gates.

"Hurry and alert Lin and Suyin Beifong!" Tenzin ordered. "Oh and Fire Princess Izumi if you happen to see her."

"Yes, Master Tenzin!" the air acolyte replied breaking off in a sprint in the other direction.

On the docks, Lin and Tenzin stood side by side. Behind them, Suyin, Kya, Izumi and Bumi stood in a row, and behind them, Hunugjian, Huifan, Wing and Wei joined their parents, aunts and uncles.

"Ms. Lin Beifong, you are under arrest!" Raiko announced leading Mako and the squad of metalbending police.

"Charges?" Lin asked diplomatically.

"Conspiracy against the city."

"As someone who has had the law code of Republic City and all of its revisions memorized since the age of sixteen, I can tell you that is utter bullshit and I have the right to refuse to come willingly with no consequences. Raiko, you are a president, not a dictator and have no authority to apprehend citizens simply because you are afraid of some anonymously sent letter," Lin replied plainly.

"Officers, detain your former chief by ANY means necessary!" Raiko ordered.

A flurry of cables rushed towards Lin, but Huifan launched herself in the air jumping and flipping over their heads from the back row to the front landing before her mother blocking the Police Officers' cables not with any physical barrier, but with the raw superior control of their element, metal.

"Huh?" a couple of officers tried to retract their cables, but couldn't.

Huifan smirked, reveling in the opportunity to finally use the art form she spent twenty three years perfecting to finally protect members of her family.

"Arrest the girl for interfering with official police business!" Raiko ordered.

"We can't sir," a sergeant replied nervously gulping air.

"They're right. Huifan is an Earth Kingdom Citizen. You have no authority over her." Suyin said stepping forward. "And as your hand-picked earth queen that you never had any control over, I can assure you that arresting her, an Earth Kingdom Citizen, and MY niece will be treated as nothing short than a declaration of war."

Raiko looked stunned as if he had just been slapped in the face or shocked full of lightning.

"If any real threat comes to Republic City, rest assured we will help you try to protect the establishment our own parents founded. But we can't do that from inside a jail cell. This is all of our home town and you are a fool to think we would let any harm come to it. But you must remember, we are civilians now, and you cannot abuse us simply because you are personally afraid." Lin growled.

"I'm not afraid!" Raiko squealed defensively.

"Lin laughed cold and loudly. "Then run a proper investigation and stop cowardly trying to heed the demands of a blackmailer!" Lin yelled. "Leave the police alone and let them do their job! I am sure they have plenty of gangs they could have been busting instead of riding that ancient ferry over here."

"Fine!" Raiko yelled turning on his heel marching towards the ferry.

"Officers?" Mako asked when they didn't follow.

"Chief, her bending is just... stronger than ours," one frightened lieutenant said nervously.

"We can't move... like... at all..." another stuttered.

"Please, release them, Miss." Mako said looking for the first time, at Huifan. Really looking at her.

"Of course, Chief," Huifan replied. She lifted her hand lifting the squadron of officers in the air by their metal armor and cables.

She flicked her hand forward and the officers all flew into the water just around the ferry.

"Forgive me, Chief, my aim slipped," Huifan said turning and walking past her parents who scowled at her disapprovingly as Mako watched stunned both by her skill, strength and beauty, thinking about an article he read in the paper that morning.

"Forgive me, Kid. She can be... infuriating sometimes. By the way her aim is perfect. I have no doubt that little display was intentional. Good luck with Raiko." Lin said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Chief," Mako replied.

"Hey! You're chief now. You can just call me Lin," Lin reminded the boy.

"It doesn't seem right to use such familiar terms all things considered," Mako said tugging at the collar of his grey, non-metalbender police uniform.

"Then call her lady Beifong and Suyin Queen," Tenzin suggested.

"I hope you have an enjoyable rest of your day, Lady Beifong. Forgive the interruption. I assure you, we are investigating as much as we can," Mako insisted.

"And you, Chief," Lin replied.

* * *

When the ferry returned, Mo and Doan came running towards the Beifongs. "Miladies! Lin and Su!" Mo yelled running towards them gasping for air, struggling under the weight of groceries all while trying to wave something grey at them. "Miss Huifan made the cover of Republic City's News!"

"Slow down! Mo! You'll bruise the produce! I knew I should have invited Air Acolyte Jiyu to come with me instead!" Doan sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.

_Mysterious Beifong Beauty Graces the World with Her Presence!_

_How can one tell she is a member of this old and prominent family? They young lady is obviously an excellend earth and metalbender and boasted the golden seal of the flying boar on BOTH spools of cable, AND her belt buckle, in genuine, 99.99% gold, as she accompanied Master Tenzin, Master Lin Beifong, Earth Queen Suyin Beifong, and Fire Lord Izumi en route to Air Temple Island. Is she an elite guard employed by the Beifong family? Highly unlikely due to the worth of the gold and silver she wears as well as the silk fabrics and golden threading._

_Reporter Shin Zhu wittnessed the former chief of police berating the girl like a daughter telling her "Huifan, be gentle with them[two reporters the mysterious Beifong launched into the air after being asked out on a date]." Another piece of evidence includes a heavy resemblance to the former chief of police._

The article put a close up of Huifan's face next to Lin's with circles around their eyes, cheekbones, mouths, and eyebrows.

_But where did she get her nose? From none other than the Master Waterbender and Wife to the late Avatar Aang, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. What does this mean for the girl? She is the daughter of Ex-Chief Lin Beifong and Councilman Tenzin, representative from the Air Nomad Nation!_

"Although I am slightly disturbed that they would dissect her like this, I must say I am impressed, They don't usually get any gossip or speculation right, if you know what I mean, but this was pretty spot on. Their deductive reasoning is improving," Lin said reading the rest of the article silently with Suyin's chin resting on her shoulder.

"It is a beautiful shot of her, though. That smirk,"

"Well, she is a beautiful girl," Lin admitted. "She must have gotten that from Katara. Heh! I know it didn't come from Tenzin or me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to keep this chapter short and sweet:)


	24. Where it All Began

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the reviews asked for glimpses into the time when Lin and Tenzin were together and happy, before all hell broke loose. So, happy memories and Linzin feels coming up! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! :)))

Lin was sitting in Tenzin's study while he was out training the lower level airbenders. She had finance, material, sales, production, and inventory reports to review from Earthen Fireworks. Running a business was completely different from running a Police Department. It was much more predictable and static, especially when the company essentially was a monopoly with the purchasing power to buy out any potential competitor that attempted to rise in the market of mining ores and producing metals and crystals. In the recent years, the company had opened eight new mines and begun boring soil samples that yielded rather large amounts of precious stones. They were able to begin adding diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and jade to their inventory. They also suffered more losses due to robberies, but only because their cargo being transported became more valuable than metal. But she practically had an army at her command and began sending every cart, gem or metal, with an entire platoon of over a hundred guards. They were swimming in gold, but it was all hidden from the children. She invested a large sum of money each year anonymously to various divisions in Zaofu, Republic City, and Gaoling, while her mysterious business partner had been investing in several organizations in the Fire Nation Capital, a swordsmanship school in Shu Jing, a firebending school in Fire Fountain City, and a fishing company in Jang Hui. Lin didn't understand. Everything looked to be in order. Why did they forward her paperwork that was always already complete? Her board of directors had been more than capable of handling robberies and lost shipments for years while she was still Chief of Police. Now that they knew she was retired, they were sending her everything. The mountain of summaries was overwhelming.

Lin called her secretary. "Have all of these been copied in the Gaoling and Ba Sing Se offices as well as Republic City?"

"Yes, Lady Beifong," the secretary confirmed.

"Good. I have reviewed everything. Keep up the good work!" Lin said. She gathered the pile of papers and took them outside to where Izumi and Suyin were having tea in some meadow.

"Have fun with these," She said dropping them before the Fire Nation Princess.

"What am I to do with Earthen Fire Reports?" Izumi asked with the most puzzled expression on her beautifully elegant face.

"Burn them. I hope they bring you more joy than they ever could bring me," Lin replied returning to Tenzin's office that she was borrowing for the time being.

When he first let her use the space to go through the first of the reports, he had remained with her to ensure she wouldn't destroy anything like the last time she was in his office and staged all of the birth photos of each of their children. The second time, she was allowed in, he left her. She found his secret tin of photographs. On his desk was a single framed photo of him, Pema, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. In his desk was a box of photos of him, her, HungJian, Huifan, Jinkun, Jiexue, and Xiaoyu. Aside from the posed, family photo, there were other snapshots, some blurry of the kids sparring or having a picnic in the courtyard or carving sculptures, or having mud fights in the garden. There was a picture of Huifan at age four learning how to braid for the first time, and a copy of the one of a five year old HuiFan sitting on her mother's shoulders braiding her black hair, practicing while Lin sat on the couch reading at the end of a long day. There was a picture of Lin breastfeeding Xiaoyu on her left side with Jiexue sleeping on her right shoulder, Huifan kneeling on the couch behind her, leaning on her head, and her two sons flanking her on their couch. They were all so happy, so goofy. They tried to pose for family photos often but never kept focus and ended up capturing the middle of tickle fights, giggles, and playful brawls on the floor.

Lin was never much of a photo person growing up, partially, no completely because her mother was blind and never appreciated that particular new technology. Tenzin had been the one to convince her that her children would appreciate it when they were older. They hadn't had the opportunity to look back, but she knew she was enjoying it greatly. She picked at her lower lip as she set that photo of her and five of her children down and picked up the next. Xiaoyu and Jiexue must have been put to bed. It was just Lin and her three badgermoles. Lin was pinned in a corner with all three children bending at her.

_"Oh no! You caught me!"_

_"You're under arrest!"_

_"Charges, Officer!"_

_"Public Display of affection!" Huifan yelled. "TAKE HER AWAY, BOYS!" Huifan commanded her two brothers. They metalbent flimsy cables around her wrists and dragged her to the 'prison' that was another corner of the living room, behind the toy box where she had to await her trial, and Daddy was the judge._

_"According to article 308, section 19, part b, no police officer may engage in physical contact or express any sort of emotional weakness while on the clock! At precisely 13h42, you, Chief Lin Beifong compleely BYPASSED hugging to kiss councilman Tenzin in the courtyard between the Police Headquarters and City Hall during passing!" Huifan recited, barely able to suppress her giggling. Hungjian had crafted their rudimentary handcuffs and Jinkun had tried to recreate a police report based on the few glimpses of them that he got whenever Lin brought work home._

"Aunt Lin?" Jinora asked entering the study cautiously.

"Yes, Jinora?" Lin asked setting the photos back in the box.

"I- I was just thinking last night about all that's happened in the recent weeks and I- I am afraid, or more confused. I am not exactly sure what I am feeling,"

"Of what?" Lin asked standing and walking around to the front of the desk to be closer to the fourteen year old, recognizing the beginning of a conversation that would most likely end in a little girl crying.

"My mother. I- I know I should love her for what she was, but when I saw her holding the rope that bound you and Aunt Su, I couldn't help but feel betrayed. I thought she appreciated you for saving us from Amon and protecting us from Republic City daily, but then she just so deliberately hurt you and Aunt Su. But then I felt like I was betraying her, because she is still my biological mother, but I have been feeling like you will always understand us more and... I don't know what to do! When she wasn't on the airship during the bombing I was worried, that she'd been lost in the blaze but when I saw her holding the rope, my worst nightmares came true. I can't believe she would try to kill us all for something as petty as loving you! Why can't we just love both?" Jinora expressed, rubbing her eyes.

"Jinora," Lin said taking the young airbending master in her strong, bare arms after metalbending her gauntlets off.

"I am ashamed to be related to someone so selfish!" Jinora said in a muffled voice since her face was buried in Lin's chest in an embrace.

"Jinora! She was not selfish. Just- confused. People act strangely when they're jealous- when they feel rage. When your father broke up with me, I nearly destroyed the entire island-"

"But he DIDN'T break up with you! Opal and I got the truth out of Kang. The White Lotus MADE you go! And you went willingly, fully understanding the sacrifice you made for your children just so he could ensure he brought airbenders into the world. You gave up everything and I just feel guilty for being a result of it!"

"Jinora, listen to me. This guilt you feel is completely unreasonable. You have done nothing wrong. What happened before you were born is not your fault. You could not choose to be the daughter of Tenzin and Pema. You could not chose to be an airbender. You could not choose to be a girl. Who you are is who you are and that will never change. You must accept that. You are a brave, intelligent, and spiritual little master with excellent leadership skills and an admirable curiosity. It doesn't matter where you come from because what you CAN choose is who you WILL be. HuiFan suffered from a similar guilt after the separation. She thought she could keep her parents together if she were born an airbender. But she wasn't an airbender. She was an earthbender and a damn good one at that! It ate her alive for a year! She needed her stomach lining repaired, her head cleared. Kya practically had to live with us to heal all of her self- inflicted wounds and try to reverse her depressing mantra. She was broken because she couldn't accept what was, but she got over it, and you will too, eventually. We must take the circumstances we are given and make the best of what we have. Don't waste your energy on negativity," Lin said holding Jinora's hands.

Jinora thought for a bit about the earthbender's words.

"Do you ever wonder what life would have been if you and Daddy never separated?" Jinora asked.

"Incredibly boring," Lin replied with a smile.

Jinora's gaze shot up to Lin's face.

"Why? Wouldn't you be happier?"

"I don't know,"

"Why not?"

"Well, for one, if Tenzin and I stayed together, we wouldn't have yours and your siblings refreshing energy to enjoy."

"Refreshing? Really? But I thought our energy was exhausting!" Jinora exclaimed.

Lin laughed. "Exhausting? Jinora, keep in mind there are only four of you. You forget I had SIX babies and all of them much closer in age than you four. You and Ikki can practically take care of yourselves. It's really just Meelo and Rohan left that need caring," Lin chuckled with her arms wrapped around the fourteen year old.

"I suppose," Jinora sighed.

"You're still sad,"

"I just don't want to live in this house anymore. Not now that it all feels so fake and forced. It's all I've ever known and it feels like one big lie. It it belongs to you.

"No, it doesn't. Sure, I lived here until I was nineteen, but I built my own house elsewhere. This stopped being my home long ago."

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"Is it true you had a room here, though?"

"Yes, would you like to see it? I didn't believe your father sealed it off at first, but then I remembered, he is your father. And for an airbender, your father has quite a number of earthly tethers of which he refuses to let go. Mine, Fire Lord Izumi's, Aunt Su's and my old bedrooms are just some of those, apparently." Lin said leading Jinora down the hall of the girl's dormitory. They reached a wooden wall that was glued shut. Lin looked around and bent a blade out of her arm guard and sliced through the glue and kicked the door to slide open.

"WOAH!" Jinora's jaw dropped when she saw the room behind it.

The blankets on the bed were green and in the corner sat a large stuffed badgermole, some kyoshi fans, throwing knives, some pens and pencil and parchment. Some sketches of Lin signed and dated by Tenzin. Some dirty laundry still on the floor. A yo-yo of sorts, a glider, a bo staff, some old-model police cables and a nondescript lump of metal sat in the corner. Then on the bedside table, sat a meteorite.

"The floors," Lin stomped. "We're covered in wood and my mom never wanted me to be without ammunition. Bless her soul," Lin laughed sarcastically.

"Wow!" Jinora gasped examining every inch of the room while Lin stood in the doorway. Jinora felt like she was being let in on a secret of sorts, learning about the history of the former Chief of Police.

"Is this the badgermole you slept with until you were nineteen?" Jinora asked pointing at it.

"Yes," Lin replied folding her arms with an amused smile on her face.

"Why did you stop? He is so soft!" Jinora asked petting the stuffed animal behind the ear.

Lin looked down the hall to make sure they were alone. "Because your father took his place beside me," Lin confessed nodding to the badgermole.

Jinora gasped. "That's so romantic!" Lin laughed out loud for the first time in a while. The first genuinely amused, not sarcastic laugh in a long time. "You never stopped loving each other, did you? It wasn't your choice to split. Sorry, but it's kind of obvious by the way you so fiercely protect each other, and all of us, from everything." Jinora commented.

"No. I never did. I don't know about him though. We haven't really talked about that sort of thing."

"Aunt Lin,"

"Yes, Jinora,"

"No matter what comes out of this battle that Gran Gran and Fire Lord Zuko and your mom think is going to happen, can we still stay with you, right?"

"Of course!" Lin said hugging her. "I must tell you something, though no one can truly love a child like her own mother, but I promise I will nonetheless try to love you like one of my own." Lin swore kissing her on the head.

Jinora embraced the earth bender. "I don't want to sleep in this house, anymore!"

"I'm sorry, Jinora. I promise we'll find a new place soon, by this evening."

"A new place, like a new island or the Air Temples?"

"Not necessarily. Let me speak with your father about it. But if you really don't want to, you won't sleep in this same house tonight." Lin promised.

* * *

Lin spoke first to both Tenzin and HuiFan and then the rest of her children. They all came to an agreement and that afternoon, she stood before the site of her old house and tore up the smooth meadow on the cliff creating the former high side and rear walls that provided shade to the property, and lifted her house out of the ground with its former front wall. Tenzin used his airbending to instantly remove every speck of dust from every single tile of the mosaic Lin so painstakingly made of the dancing badgermoles a and sky bison on the front wall. On the gate, the earth and air symbol gleamed in freshly dusted gold and above the archway, hung the golden seal of the flying boar on a board. Lin and Tenzin opened the gates and they entered the sunny but cool courtyard.

Memories flashed before the family members' eyes of HungJian and Huifan sparring in the yard while JinKun tried to read on the marble bench next to his father who held one year old Xiaoyu while three year old Jiexue picked grass and failed miserably at making flower laurels. Lin walked up to the front door, hesitating for a moment as she reached for the handle. Tenzin walked up behind her and placed his hand over hers.

"Together," he whispered in her ear, and they turned it and swung the door open.

"Welcome home," they said to their combined ten children.

HuiFan was almost crying, but knowing she was a Beifong, would refuse to let her tears fall. Everything inside was exactly the same as how she remembered it.

"You know, you too have an odd way of 'holding up your end of the deal'" Tenzin commented. "'destroyed everything we had on this island', huh?" he smirked. Lin punched him hard enough and loud enough in the shoulder to be heard, but Tenzin was immune to her. "And you got mad at me over not burning a photograph, pfft!" Tenzin scoffed. Lin nearly knocked him down now. He looped her shoulder and disrupted her balance, regaining his, and he caught her and trapped her playfully in his arms. She blew a tuft of hair out of her face that came loose, and struggled to free herself.

"It's just like old times," HuiFan said watching her parents fight from the other side of the dining table, running a finger along the high backs of the metal lined wooden chairs.

"Why is there the metal?" Ikki asked curiously.

"Because when we were young, we didn't have any manners so we'd just sit and Mother would push in our chairs for us with her metalbending," Jinkun answered

"We'd be placed so close, our backs HAD to be straight!" HuiFan exaggerated.

"Until we started metalbending and pushed ourselves right back out!" HungJian laughed.

Jinora, Ikki and Meelo laughed while Rohan explored some toys in the toy box.

"Let me go," Lin whispered to Tenzin.

The children turned to see Tenzin's arms wrapped around Lin and they all swore they'd never seen the Chief look so small and helpless, breathless next to anybody.

"No," Tenzin replied squeezing her tightly. "Never," he breathed against her neck, making her breathless.

"They're watching-" Lin whispered in his ear, barely audibly.

Tenzin looked up and addressed the children.

"Do any of you have any problem with this?" he asked before proceeding, looking specifically at Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo.

"Daddy, we don't get to choose to whom we're born, and we don't get to choose who we love, but we can choose to make the best of our circumstances and to me, this looks like an opportunity," Jinora replied with a sincere smile.

"Doesn't that phrasing sound familiar?" Tenzin asked Lin, pecking her scowling face on the lips before letting go. She jumped back four paces breathing heavily while Tenzin merely beamed with triumph.

Lin wiped her mouth and feigned disgust and hate as she walked towards Rohan.

"Pick two toys, then we're going upstairs to explore okay? We can't leave you here, but we'll be back soon to play. I promise," Lin said to the three year old. He grabbed one toy in each hand and turned to her understandingly. She scooped him into her arms and everyone started upstairs.

"I was barely taller than this railing last time I was here," HuiFan said chewing on her lower lip smiling fondly at the memory.

"HungJian, what are these dents in the wall?" Meelo asked pointing at them.

"Oh! Those were caused by my head when Huifan threw me down the stairs. I was seven,"

"Fa-ni!" Lin yelled at her eldest daughter.

"What? No purpose in punishing me now! He didn't die or anything!" Huifan shrugged walking upstairs.

"Lovely," Ikki commented making a face at the holes in the wall.

"My first hammers!" HungJian exclaimed running into his old bedroom straight to the far corner. His bed still unmade, one curtain lazily closed and one still tied up on the side of the window. He had a poster of some complex earthbending form and another for a traveling play called the Runaway based on his grandmother's and his great uncle Sokka's gambling antics in the Fire Nation in their youth that he was always dying to see. "EARTHBENDING! TO BEAT THE FIRE NATION CHEATS! IT WAS BRILLIANT I TELL YOU! BRILLIANT!" He exclaimed flinging his arms around in a moment of childish passion while Lin smiled lovingly at her baby boy, all grown up, standing in his old room, remembering it fondly. Next, they peeked into Huifan's room.

"My mini police costume!" Huifan ran over to the new-model armor that Lin had introduced to the police force during her time as chief. She held it up to Ikki. "I could probably modify it to fit you!" HuiFan commented pensively."Would you like to know what metalbending police armor feels like.

Ikki turned to Lin silently asking for permission.

"Try it on," Lin encouraged while Tenzin rested his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist in a tight embrace.

"Have you ever even worn metal or is it against your dress code-" Huifan asked.

"I- we've never thought about it. I don't know if we have a dress code, but Daddy doesn't seem to be complaining so..." Ikki replied turning nervously to Tenzin who seemed perfectly content in the doorway.

"We'll try it. Turn around, stand STRONG! Unmoving. Ready?"

Ikki nodded. HuiFan slapped the back onto the eleven year old and bent the front over Ikki's head closing the sides with metalbending, creating a near perfect seal over her airbending clothes.

"Arms...legs..."

"Woah! It's so heavy!" Ikki exclaimed trying to walk in the stiff uniform. "How do you move, let alone fight in this?"

"You have to bend to maintain it," Huifan explained. "I'll help you!" Huifan bent the armor to continuously follow Ikki's movements. It felt lighter to the eleven year old.

"Thank you, but can you take it off now?"

Lin and HuiFan laughed.

Jinkun's room was even messier than Hungjian's room, but it had a different kind of mess. There were shelves from floor to ceiling over-full of books of all genres from all four nations on one wall. On another, numerous drawings, of the mosaic on the front gates, crashing waves, his siblings playing, and little animals that used to live in the garden had been haphazardly tacked up on the wall. There were so many of them that some overlapped. Then on a desk and another set of shelves, tiny sculptures made from metal and clay littered the surfaces. One sculpture was of a little girl chasing a little boy. She had the upper hand, clearly as he cowered in pretend fear.

"Wait!" Ikki turned from the sculpture to HuiFan and HungJian. "That's—" she paused and turned to Huifan and Hungjian.

"Us," HungJian nodded in confirmation.

"I recognized the Ty Lee braid from the photograph I found that one day!" Ikki exclaimed, her eyes wide with the recognition.

"We had photographs, but once I got my precision earthbending and human anatomy down, I made these. It seemed more... special to me than just some two dimensional flimsy piece of paper that would fade eventually." JinKun explained. "Stone is a lot less flimsy."

"Now THAT is talent, good sir!" Meelo said shaking Jinkun's hand ferociously.

"How many of these sculptures do you have?" Jinora asked looking at the shelves.

She too recognized HuiFan's single Ty-Lee braid and her smirk or sneer and HungJian's mischievous or completely fake innocent smile in the sculptures. There were a couple of their father juggling Jiexue and Huifan, sitting on the marble bench or on the front steps of the house. Then there was one Dad and Aunt Lin in a rather interesting position. She couldn't help but pick up the sculpture turning it in her hands rather intrigued.

"They were just outside the walls, and we were just starting to try to learn seismic sense and... well... that happened" JinKun shrugged as Jinora examined the statuette.

"Oh my god!" HuiFan was torn between laughing and crying when Jinora showed her.

"Can we see too?" Kang asked.

"What is it? What did you find?" Lin asked from the doorway.

"You guys fucking, probably in a sunset or something," Jiexue said bluntly.

"WHAT? JIN, YOU WERE SIX!" Lin scolded opening her hand, beckoning the stone statue to her hand in an instant.

"I didn't know what it was! I just like capturing all the moments when we were happy!" JinKun replied running towards her to try to get it back.

"Oh my god," Lin turned handing the sculpture to Tenzin.

He surprised all of them and smiled. "I remember that dress, and that night as if it were yesterday!" Tenzin whispered wrapping his arms around Lin's waist, handing the sculpture back to JinKun.

"You're not going to destroy it?" Jinkun asked his mother.

"And destroy your hard work? I'm a little disturbed by it, but I'm not mean. It was important to you, once. Besides, your father seems to like it," Lin replied.

"It still is important to me, but here, Dad. You can have it. I think it would be awkward to keep it in me room now that I am old enough to understand what you guys were doing."

"Uhhh. thanks, Son but I am not entirely sure if it is an appropriate gift to accept from you-"

"Just take it baldy and make sure it does NOT EVER make its way into your office at city hall," Lin said forcing it into Tenzin's hand. He covered it with his fingers and looked at her gratefully. She barely gave him a second of her face before returning her attention to their children.

"Well, get cleaning you all! I'm certain you don't fit into any of the clothes here, so make a pile in the hall! Clean it out and give me your bed sheets so I can start the washing!" Lin said clapping her hands twice with a tone of finality.

"So we get to live here again?!" Jiexue exclaimed excitedly.

"Permanently?!" Xiaoyu asked.

"Yes, BUT you must realize your rooms here are a quarter of the size of your rooms at the estate, so you'll have to downsize and give up some things," Lin replied.

"Can I go get the photo albums so I can finish my tour down memory lane with HungJian and JinKun?" Kang asked.

"AFTER you help them clean their rooms. I spoke to Baatar about adding another wing or something but for a short time, you'll have to share the existing six rooms while we see about adding four more, AND the two nurseries need to be converted into usable bedrooms, or we could go to my estate until the expansion is complete, but I don't like thought of being 'in the city' especially after the newspaper reported on HuiFan and Raiko started acting all anal over nothing..." while Lin went on, HuiFan walked over to the end of the hall and placed her hand on it feeling the entire structure of the house and the foundation below. She took the painting of the beach off the wall and handed it to Jinora then she kicked a section of the wall right off the side of the house.

"Huifan, what the hell are you doing?!" Lin yelled running over to the gaping hole. HuiFan looked down below.

"Making new rooms!" she replied simply. She stepped forward and bent new walls and structures right out of the ground twenty feet below.

"It just needs electrical now, I can feel the wiring in the rest of the house and could probably replicate it if you gave me some copper and aluminum and maybe some rubber- insulation," HuiFan thought aloud.

Lin rolled her eyes and smiled at her eldest daughter with pride. "You're too much, HuiFan!"

Her eldest daughter folded her arms and smiled wide, tilting her face up to the ceiling with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Just Like in THE PHOTOGRAPH!" Ikki exclaimed.

"You're right!" Lin said to her, placing an arm on Ikki's shoulder.

"Do you still have a camera? Can we take a new family photo of you guys?" Jinora asked.

"Of us?" Lin asked turning to Tenzin. "Shouldn't someone else take the photo since you'll be in it WITH us?" Lin asked.

Jinora's jaw dropped and she turned to Ikki and Meelo excitedly.

"Now get to work! While you strip the mattresses, I am going to go raid the kitchen of the main house. It's just us tonight, okay? I can only stand so many dinners with my mother. HuiFan, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, promise me we won't hate each other when I'm eighty."

"I will make no such promises." HuiFan replied.

"Me neither," Jiexue replied walking to her old nursery to clear out the drawers of the baby clothes.

"Sorry Ma," Xiaoyu added continuing onto hers.

Lin sighed.

"There there-" Tenzin said placing a hand on her lower back.

"Go help the children!" Lin yelled shoving him off before leaving the house, scooping up Rohan just by default, feeling the obligation to care for the littlest one when she was home so Tenzin could bond with the older kids that just happened to not be kids anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll get back to Raiko and Mako and Pema being crazy in the next... Hopefully... :)))) I love reading your reviews! Thanks for the support as always!


	25. The First Real Threat

"MMMMM! What is that smell, Aunt Lin?!" Ikki asked entering her new home for the second time with the other airbenders.

"It is amazing!"

"It smells like Gran Gran's Sea Kumquat stew!" Jinora exclaimed taking a big wiff of it as she passed the kitchen.

"It is your Grandma Katara's recipe, with a few of my own tweaks," Lin replied smiling.

"Mom always cooks Water Tribe food on special occasions!" Kang said reaching into the pot to try to steal a stewing sea kumquat.

"Hey! No touching! You all have been sparring. I can smell it. Go clean up, then we will eat," Lin ordered slapping his hand away.

"What is the special occasion?" Jinora asked.

"You guys joining our family," Jiexue answered knowingly.

Jinora gasped and turned between Lin and Tenzin. She saw them in a whole different light now. With Jinora's mother, Tenzin was cautious. He watched what he said, where he stepped. They said it was because he was just overprotective. But really it was because Pema was sensitive. She was offended easily. She cried, she got hurt easily. Lin on the otherhand was as tough as the steel and stone she bent. She was passionate. She could argue with Tenzin for days. They would start by fighting then end their disagreement after a few days of silence, their love strong enough to tough even the roughest storms, and remain unchanged after 16 years of separation. They were both so overprotective of each other, but they were also both so individually strong. They fit each other perfectly.

"Hey Mom," HuiFan said after coming home from training, hugging her mother from behind while Lin stirred the stew.

"Why aren't you sweaty? Did Grandma Toph teach you anything today?" Lin asked

"No. She just had me beat up my cousins. It is rather easy to do," Huifan replied automatically opening the cabinets like she use to to get dishes and cups to set the table. She had always been closest with her mother, helping with all of the chores before they had servants, and taking care of her baby sisters. The more she helped her mother with menial tasks, the more energy her mother had to spar with her when she was younger.

"For you," Lin replied with a smirk.

* * *

Everyone was finally seated, Tenzin sat at one end of the table, and Lin at the other. Just before they could start passing the first dish around, Huifan's head shot up. "There's someone at the door!" HuiFan announced.

"Who?" Ikki asked.

"Especially at this hour?" Jinora added.

"GO AWAY! WE'RE EATING DINNER!" Meelo yelled.

"Hush Meelo!" Tezin snapped. "We do not speak that way!"

"I don't know. It feels like the Future Industries CEO and the firebending police chief and another boy that I've never seen before!" Huifan replied just as the visitors knocked.

"Your skills of perception are impeccable." HungJian said sarcastically standing up.

"Ha-ha!" HuiFan replied sneering.

"No! You sit. Eat. I'll get it," Lin snapped her fingers pointing back down at the chair and Hungjian dropped down into his seat once again.

"Mako! Asami! Bolin! What brings you here at this hour?"

Mako spoke, "Well, I finally got rid of Raiko. I wanted to ask for your advice. Raiko is impossible and I can't trust the other officers to not go blabbing."

Lin sighed. "You need them to fear you"

"But you said I needed respect more than fear!" Mako replied.

"Respect comes after the fear." Lin explained with a sigh. "What's up? Have you eaten? Where's Korra?"

"Korra's visiting her family in the South Pole. We stopped at Narook's before coming and didn't want to impose for too long."

"Then have at least a cup of tea. I always have a kettle full and ready. Come in," Lin said opening the door wider to allow Mako, Bolin, and Asami into her modest, unburied home on Air Temple Island.

"Oooooooh! Who's the handsome earthbender boy." Jiexue asked with a smile, craning her neck to see over the high back of Jinkun's chair.

"That's Bolin. He's Opal's boyfriend," Jinora answered.

"Oh," Jiexue sighed for a fraction of a second. "Never mind then! I won't break someone's. ESPECIALLY my own cousin's."

"Did you know Bolin can lavabend?" Ikki asked throwing her hands down on the table with excitement lifting herself out of her dinner chair.

"Yes he can, now finish your food so you can get ready for bed. You have a long day of training tomorrow, Ikki," Lin said running her hand smoothly and casually along the top of the high back on the chair bending the metal lining to snake around Ikki's waist and pulled her back into the seat before reassuming its original shape.

"Woah!" Ikki said watching it reshape itself as Lin walked over to Tenzin at the head of the table.

"I'll only be a short while. Make sure the children eat and clean up the table. Can you have Huifan show Jinora and Ikki where all the dishes go after washing and drying?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," Lin replied almost kissing his arrow before remembering the presence of their guests. "I'll be in the study if you need anything."

Tenzin smiled as she walked away leading the young adults to her study.

"Dad, can I learn lavabending?" HuiFan asked.

"I suppose you can try, just don't practice ANYWHERE near the house,"

* * *

Lin settled on her side of the desk and unstacked three cushioned chairs from the corner of the room by a slat of metal she had screwed into the bottom of the seats. "So what's this about?" she asked folding her hands on the desk.

"Well, we received this note yesterday," Mako said sliding the paper over the dark stained oak table.

No bender is safe during the Four Nations' festival.

"When is that festival?" Lin asked.

"Four days away, Mako replied.

"How many officers will you have there?"

"Five hundred."

"Estimated civilian count?"

"Ten thousand."

"Estimated demographics?"

"34% benders."

"How many of your officers have been trained in bomb detection and disarming?"

"About twenty,"

"Exactly?"

"Seventeen."

"Have them all be present that night as well. Sweep the area every hour before the event and do thorough clean up. Secure the area and screen everyone entering the area. Restrict weapon possession to law enforcement..."

"Do you think that will work?"

"It should help, but we are never certain."

Just then the door opened and Huifan entered. "Mom, I know it wasn't my place to listen, but I think I can help if it's a security thing. I can feel the bombs by their earthen components!"

"Absolutely not! Now go back Huifan. You should be at dinner with your siblings. This is a private conversation! Go!" Lin yelled.

"Ugh!" HuiFan groaned storming off.

"She can detect bombs?" Asami asked.

"She found ONE on our airship and suddenly thinks she's an expert! She's overconfident in her abilities-" Lin said to them.

"I've seen several displays of earthbending, Chie-Lady Beifong. She deserves to be overconfident."

"I trained her, Chief Mako. She deserves nothing and needs to learn restraint." Lin said. "You came asking for my advice and received it. You will not take my daughter as well."

"Let's go Mako. We've taken enough of Lady Beifong's time,"Asami said urging Mako out of his chair.

"Thank you for seeing us this evening," Mako said bowing as he stood.

Lin nodded and watched as they filed out of her home office. "Wait," She took a strip of paper.

"This is the number of the private line to this house, and this is the private line to the estate. If you need me, call here first. If I don't pick up or the person who does says I am not here, call the estate and ask for Peng. He is the captain of my Guard. A good man who can get a hold of me quickly and easily. Do not hesitate, but at the same time, don't waste my time if its not a big deal." Lin said handing Mako the paper.

"Thank you." Mako said.

* * *

Three nights later, HuiFan and her sisters were all sitting together in Jiexue's room with Jinora and Ikki telling stories.

"... there once was an earthbender that was so strong that she was able to earthbend the ground to cancel out her own movements and heartbeat enabling her to sneak past even the most accomplished benders capable of seismic sense! She moved every step with the perfect rhythm of the earth that she bent and escaped her wretched prison FOREVER! Mwahahahahaha!" Huifan said standing on the bed with her hands up victoriously reminding Lin of her mother's retelling of the time when she was the Melon Lord. Lin stood just outside their open door, out of sight, leaning with her back against the wall, listening to their voices permeate through the house that had heard nothing but silence for sixteen years.

"Who was the earthbender?" Jinora asked completely enthralled by the unfathomable feat of earthbending

"ME!" Huifan replied flopping down on the bed again leaning against Jiexue.

"But you've never been in prison!" Ikki corrected her.

"It is called figurative language!" Huifan explained.

"Why do you have to take everything so literally?" Jinora asked with annoyance asked folding her arms.

"Why do you have to be so boring!" Ikki shouted back.

"Hey! Knock it off! You're sisters! Don't end up like Mom and Su!" Jiexue scolded snapping at them while Huifan seemed rather annoyed by their quick squabbles.

"Sorry," Jinora and Ikki apologized to each other.

'What are you do-" Tenzin began to ask before Lin covered his mouth and pulled him against the hallway wall.

"So did you sneak out?"

"Once,"

"Where did you go?"

"About a half mile down the hill of the south wall. Then I got scared by a moose lion and went back home," Huifan replied.

"How old were you?"

"I don't know. Eleven maybe,"

"I'm eleven!"

"Have you ever sneaked out?"

"Once! We were on vacation and JINORA was making fun of me!" Ikki said sneering at her sister with her hands on her hips.

"Only because you made fun of me!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Hey! Quit it you two! You didn't bicker like this three days ago! What happened?" Jiexue asked.

"I don't know," Jinora sighed.

Jiexue raised an eyebrow at them.

"Did you guys ever argue when you were little?" Ikki asked Jiexue. She glanced at Xiaoyu who sat with her back against her sister's head board.

"I think we were too busy or too sensitive to tease each other or argue. HuiFan spent most of her time sparring Hungjian, but always wanted a little sister to dress up, so she was exceptionally nice and gentle in the early years, but then Jiexue was freaking out around six years old about being a non-bender until Aunt Zumzu taught her knife throwing. Then I spent all of my time with Mom begging to be trusted with knives too..."

"So you never argued?"

"Not with each other."

"See, we were the only friends each other had. We didn't have school or air acolytes. Just each other, mother, Aunt Kya and Aunt Zumi," Jiexue replied.

"Wow!"

* * *

Tenzin looked down at Lin who had her eyes closed, 'watching' their daughters all converse in the room with her seismic sense, listening to them argue and laugh, with a smile spread across her face. Tenzin traced the scars on her cheek with his eyes, taking in every single line of her body as he looked down at his lady. He never felt happier in his life. The woman from his child hood and his dreams was finally able to be with him freely. He had children of his own, and six of them were for sure airbenders. Only Rohan was too young to tell.

"Why don't we give them some privacy and go find some of our own. They'll be okay until morning, They're old enough to be responsible." Tenzin said snaking his fingers into her hand. She opened her brilliant green eyes and looked up at him.

"Alright. Where do you propose?"

"The caves in the south side of the island."

"Okay," Lin said following.

* * *

Huifan scanned the house. It was three in the morning. Both parents deep asleep, all of her siblings equally distracted by elaborate dreams, no doubt, and Huifan fled the house for the city, bending a sand wave to propel her across the bay without any need for a ferry, it was exhausting work to maintain that level of bending for so long, but it was okay. Once Huifan landed by the shipping depot, she realized just how little she knew the city. She recognized the port where the Fire Nation-Republic City steamer pulled in that one year that Lin let Fire Lord Izumi take her and her siblings to ember Island. She recognized the direction of the Probending Arena and could see its golden body gleaming in the distance on a pier of its own, but she had no idea where the Police Station was to offer her services to the security team. She was at a loss. As if the spirits heard her dilemma, they sent a night patrolman roaming her way. "Excuse me," she called to the patrolling officer. "Which way to Republic City Police Headquarters?"

"That way, about five miles. It's a long walk. Would you like me to drive you?"

"No thanks. I'll manage, I have these," she replied tapping one of her spools of cables.

"Oldstyle police cables?" He asked.

"Yep!" Huifan replied turning around.

She metalbent one of her cables into the corner of a building and swung half the length of a block, practically flying towards the headquarter building. The plaza between the City Hall and the Police Headquarters was completely vacant save for her. HuiFan looked up at the statue of Toph in her prime wearing her Chief of Police Uniform standing above the plaza, looking down on the road. I can't believe you are MY grandmother! Beside Toph, there was beginning construction of another outcrop in the police headquarters to make space for the second longest serving Police Chief, Lin Beifong. Huifan had a feeling Mako wouldn't be in until morning, especially with such an important day beginning in a few hours, so she decided to set up camp and wait. Huifan made an earth tent along the side of the building and took down her hair and shed herself of metal to catch about six more hours of sleep before the city woke up.

* * *

Huifan did her hair in complete darkness of her earthern tent and dressed. She bent her belt around her waist and attached the spools of cable and changed the curl of her meteor bracelet just for design and then collapsed her eastern tent to find the courtyard bustling with activity as politicians, secretaries, police, civilians, and messengers hurried between the most important buildings in the city. She had never seen so many people in a plaza. It was nothing like the moderately crowded streets between the docks and the pro-bending stadium that one

She had to hurry. It was festival day and she had to help the bomb squad.

"Is the Chief in yet?" she asked the receptionist.

"The Chief doesn't have time for petty civilian complaints especially on festival day," the secretary replied.

"Then let me speak to whoever is leading the security team for the festival this evening," Huifan replied.

"Whatever you have to say, you can write it down and we will put it in the chief's mailbox." the secretary said handing Huifan a piece of scrap paper and a pen. If she were a fire bender, she could burn it to make a statement. She held it up and narrowed her eyes, spearing the paper with the metal on her wrist guard, slicing it into four jagged pieces letting it fall onto the secretary's desk.

"No wonder my mother hates bureaucracy." She muttered, not backing down. She looked at the secretary. _Good. Now I have her attention. But I don't need it._ "I'll find the Chief myself!" HuiFan said. She slammed her foot into the ground causing the entire police headquarters to pulse. Huifan said with a flash of a smile turning to walk away.

"The girl from the paper," the secretary gasped looking up for the first time.

"What paper?" HuiFan asked pausing.

Another secretary handed her the newspaper clipping from a few days ago. It had been a hot topic in the police station. Gossip had gone rampant as was kind of expected. And here was Chief Beifong's secret daughter, in flesh, and just as magnificent and intimidating. Huifan was intrigued by the article and nonetheless a little disappointed her mother didn't show her when it was first published.

"If anyone is interested in further reporting on me, tell them to add 'AND the GREATEST EARTHBENDER IN THE WORLD'. By the way, I found the Chief. He's on the fourth floor heating a cup of tea with his hands. A girl is with him. The head of Future Industries, Sato, I think her name is. Thanks for the clipping, Madame secretary," Huifan said nodding at the secretary before walking towards the metal door that lead from the lobby to the rest of the building. She bent it open with as little movement as blinking her eyes, and for some reason, not a single officer made any move to stop her.

Huifan walked past uniformed dectives, trainees, secretaries, newbies, firebending officers, metalbending officers, waterbending officers, consultants, contractors, and janitors. She walked with a confidence not seen since Beifong retired about five weeks ago. She knew where everything was, after getting a complete layout of the building from the one pulse.

"Chief Mako," Huifan said appearing behind the firebending boy with the cup of tea.

He nearly jumped out of his grey police uniform in shock. "Huifa-"

"-fan," Huifan finished for him.

"Duh-" Mako cleared his throat nervously. "Does your mother know you're here?"

"Probably, but don't worry, she won't come. She hates Raiko and probably doesn't want him to accuse her of invading Republic City," Huifan said rolling her eyes. Some eavesdropping officers gasped and whispered among themselves shocked that the girl would be brave enough to express her distaste for their president.

"So why are you here?" Mako asked.

"I wanted to help the bomb squad. I heard your conversation a few days ago, but I knew my mother would try to make stay if she knew I was planning on coming, so I decided to not alert you ahead of time."

"Well I guess every bit of help counts," Mako replied. "There's only one problem."

"What?"

"You're kind of famous now." Mako said nervously.

"So? How does that change anything? I am still only human, I still want to help. I don't see how that impairs my ability to locate bombs," Huifan replied looking puzzled.

"People will recognize you. You can't really be discreet about finding the bombs."

"Do I need to be discreet?" Huifan asked with a dead serious expression. "I'm still only human. I don't care what they call me. They cannot change me or stop me. I know who I am. Please, let me help."

Mako thought for a moment. He remembered how she was able to take over control of over two dozen officers that day on Air Temple Island. She remembered the unusually strong earthquake a few weeks ago that was apparently caused by her rage when she thought her mother had been killed in a tower that blew up. She was indeed the most powerful bender of any element he had ever seen. "Okay. The first security sweep begins in an hour. Until then, I guess you could just hang out, somewhere."

"Great." HuiFan took out a block of metal and sat down in his office, patiently turning the block in her hand shaping it into geometrically symmetric shapes, assymetric blobs, and humanoid figurines.

"Did you shake the building earlier?" Mako asked curiously.

"Yep," Huifan replied keeping a bored expression focused on the blob of metal in her hand.

"You Beifongs are scary."

"I like to think of all of us, only my grandmother, mom, and I am scary. The rest of us are pretty sweet. Like Opal, the Twins, and Jinkun and Xiaoyu and Kang..."

"Yeah... sure... I'll take your word for it," Mako replied. "Wait, who are Jinkun, Xiaoyu, and Kang?"

"Two of my brothers, and one of my sisters."

"You have siblings?"

"Yeh,"

"How many?"

"Five,"

Mako struggled to keep his shock contained. He felt like he was being let in on some huge secret. He had seen them all just a few nights ago at that kitchen table in Beifong's new home on Air Temple Island, and he heard rumors about Chief Beifong having a family, but he didn't really count the chairs at that table when they passed through. She looked up curiously at him, but he decided to not ask anymore questions. He tried to return to his paperwork, but like the rest of his police force, and a good percentage of the police force, he was distracted by all of these things he was finding out about the Chief of Police he thought he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay with getting Raiko and Pema back in this story... Oh and I still have to introduce Masaru soon. I'm having trouble with squeezing him in... But he will be important too... eventually.


	26. The Festival

At 10 AM, Mako, HuiFan and several other officers headed over to the festival grounds. They all looked at a map of the area and began a search. HuiFan was assigned to work with an officer four years older than her to walk the perimeter and search for bombs. "This will take forever!" HuiFan declared impatiently, bending a column of earth up right n front of her and slammed her fists into it and closed her eyes.

"There's nothing in this building, hundreds of them in this one," Huifan said pointing ahead of them. "and hundreds in the eighth building down."

"How can you tell?" the other officer asked.

"The composition of sulfur and some other components. And the shape of the vessels in which they are contained," HuiFan replied they marched into the building.

"It's a post office" the other officer noticed.

"The bombs are in the packing room."

"We can't just walk past without a permit."

"Why not?"

"It's against the rules?"

"Would you like to abide by rules that may become obsolete very soon, or would you like to watch the entire building go up in flames?"

The other officer gulped.

"Watch me," HuiFan grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up and shook him at the attendant at the encounter. "Republic City police" She said thrusting the badge still on the man's armor in the teller's face. "We need to search your mailroom. You are in grave danger, and if you know what is good for you, you'll let us see."

"Right this way!" the teller cried recognizing Huifan's face from the paper. Huifan dropped the police officer who ran to keep up with hers and the attendant's fast pace.

HuiFan bent her arm guards into a sword and sliced open the one box that they were looking for. It was filled with bombs with timers set for 9:40 PM. She reached over and pulled the radio off of the cop's uniform.

"Chief, do you read me? We're at the post office with a box full of the things on timers set for 9:40. I don't know if their owners have remote controls," HuiFan said.

Mako arrived with more officers and they loaded the trucks the bombs.

"A box in that building on the eighth floor room 8012," HuiFan said. She bent another column up.

"This way!" she ran. There was another box every four buildings along the perimeter. Mako radioed the other units.

"Chief, the bombs' timers are changing," one officer called on the radio.

"They know," HuiFan realized.

She grabbed the box under one arm, jumped out the window and cabled the roof of another building. She looped the box with her cables and threw it as high as she could as hundreds of those tiny things exploded, raining small shrapnel as people ran for cover. Officers all along the perimeter of the festival grounds did the same. Just then she heard the unmistakable sound of a sky bison and saw her father, Aunt Kya, Aunt Su, and Fire Princess Izumi flying straight towards her.

"I'm not coming home! We've already found sixteen boxes of those things and the owners are changing the timers on them and detonating them sooner. You promised you would help ya find the culprit! You promised to protect the city!" HuiFan yelled.

"And we will. We came to help you. I can make a tornado to contain the debris as it detonated while You and Suyin collect the bombs and throw them in, then Izumi can strike them with lightning to initiate early detonation," Tenzin assured his daughter.

"Thanks, Dad," HuiFan replied with eyes wide with surprise.

Suyin and Huifan ran parallel streets and directed officers into the building. Box after box was thrown off the roof of a sky scraper into Tenzin's tornado. Izumi struck the tornado every so often with lightening. The debris from the bombs flowed down to a neat, pile at the base of the volcano. Kya poured water over the growing pile to keep the gunpowder and dust from polluting the air.

All Satomobiles were barred from entering the festival grounds. They cleared the perimeter and buildings within the festival area documenting where each box was found, how many units were in each box. Later they would try to find a correlation between the placement of the bombs, their set detonation times and other factors. In the mean time, they swept the debris into a garbage truck to be hauled away a toxic waste facility.

A high ranking officer approached HuiFan. "Hey, I just wanted to say nice work, today, Miss-"

"Beifong. HuiFan Beifong," Huifan replied.

The officer gasped. "So the rumors are true? Our former chief had children?"

"Don't be surprised. She is only human. Most humans have children eventually," Huifan shrugged. She turned to the Chief of Police's brother. So, Ikki said you're Bolin?"

"Yeah?" Bolin replied shifting in place.

"CAN YOU TEACH ME LAVA BENDING?" Huifan asked excitedly.

"Uh... its a really rare form of earthbending. I'm not sure it can really be taught I just... sort of... do it..." Bolin said making a puddle of lava. She watched his motions and concentration then tried creating a lava river.

"Woah!" She and Bolin jumped as a twenty meter long river of lava melted through the square. HuiFan quickly stomped it out again and looked at her hands.

"Thank you!" she said bowing to Bolin.

"But, I didn't do anything!" Bolin replied.

"I know, I just needed to see it to know it's possible for an earthbender and once I see it, it happens." HuiFan explained.

"She's scary-" Bolin whispered to Mako as Huifan went to join her father in a conversation with her two aunts and the Fire Princess Izumi.

"She's the greatest earthbender in the world!" Mako replied.

"Korra! You're back!" Bolin yelled running over to the Avatar dressed in blue approaching the group.

"I told you! I promised I wouldn't miss the Festival of the Four Nations for the world!" Korra exclaimed hugging and kissing Asami.

"Yeah! Thanks for not helping at all with security, Avatar," HuiFan said sarcastically turning to face the girl from the Southern Water Tribe.

"You know, there really is no doubt you're related to Lin Beifong," Korra frowned.

"Don't be surprised." HuiFan replied with a prideful smirk.

That evening nearly everyone vacated Air Temple Island for the festival leaving Toph and Katara in charge of Tenzin's youngest airbending children.

"Keep your eyes closed and your shoes off!" Toph yelled as the ferry pulled away.

"Yeah, sure, Mom." Lin grumbled turning away.

"Will do!" Suyin called with a smile and a wave.

* * *

"No metallic clothing in the festival except for official, on-duty police!" a security guard yelled at the civilian trying to pass into the festival area.

"What about HER?!" the civilian said pointing directly at Huifan who wore a metal necklace, metal belt, throwing knives, two spools of cables and metal strips on her forearms, matching her Aunt, Suyin.

"She's with the police."

"But she is not dressed like the police. She wears no badge bearing any loyalty to Republic City! She looks like a regular civilian to me!" The civilian complained.

"She's the councilman's daughter and an earthbending prodigy who helped us sweep the area," the border controller said.

"Councilman's daughter? I see! Giving special treatment to prominent benders in the city while the rest of us non-benders aren't even allowed to wear decorative clothing! Some world we've come to, eh?" The man said grumbling as he left with his family.

* * *

HuiFan stepped on another dropped corn dog.

"PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTING!" She groaned shaking her foot off, using a metal strip to scrape the food off of her foot. She put on shoes. HungJian just looked at her.

"This is why mom never listens to Grandma Toph," he said simply.

HuiFan frowned and they kept walking. She bent a strip into a pole and dragged it along the ground to feel the earth without dirtying her feet.

She looked around with her brother.

Everyone's heart was up, but that may just be from the excitement of a festival. Then she felt a panicked heart not far.

She grabbed her brother's hand and ran. She flung a metal strip yanking a man off of a young teenager bleeding between the legs.

"Do you need anything? Hospital? Parents?" Huifan asked.

"You're not Police?" the teenager asked.

"No but I can bring you to police," HuiFan replied.

The teenager nodded and HuiFan brought her to an officer.

Then they continued their walk.

Just then on the stage there was an explosion HuiFan flung herself onto the roof of a building with her cables while HungJian launched himself with a column of earth to get a better visual.

"Look out!" HuiFan yelled. HungJian turned on the roof and swung his hammer at the axis of the rope HuiFan bent a metal strip to intercept the spinning ropes then cuffed their attackers then returned to the bombing.

"People are hurt!" HungJian said pointing at the chaos below.

"But look. An airship!" HuiFan said pointing a fast approaching air ship. A few blocks away, Suyin was running across a rooftops, sending a cable up to board the air ship.

"Let's help her!"

HuiFan sent a cable up towards the Equalists airship and began to retract it. Someone from the ground tried to throw one of those electric spinning rope thins, but Jiexue intercepted it with her glider before flying away allowing her older sister and aunt to land inside the airship. The two immediately metalbent the floor paneling into strips pinning the equalists to the wall.

"It's a trap! We're civilians! Please let us go!" one of the trapped persons yelled in desperation.

"I'm even a firebender! See?!" another said opening the palm of his hand, creating a small, yet steady flame.

"I'm a waterbender!" one said splashing.

"Why are you here then?" Suyin asked.

"The Solution, she calls herself, wanted to make a statement."

"She says there is no place for benders in this world anymore."

HuiFan pressed her hand to the walls of the airship. It was laden with bombs. If the bombs didn't kill them directly, the shrapnel would.

"Aunt Su, get them out! I'll disarm the bombs! I know how!" HuiFan ordered releasing the metal bindings from the people in the bomb bay.

"Your mother will kill me if you're hurt!" Suyin reminded her.

"I know. Just go!" HuiFan ordered. Suyin began swinging person after person onto the roofs of the building where they were met by Equalists as HuiFan worked to disarm the bombs They wouldn't change though. For some reason, the components wouldn't separate no matter what HuiFan tried. Finally she ran back to Suyin.

"Go!" she said ripping the cables off of her aunt's belt as she pushed Su out of the bomb bay, so Suyin couldn't come after her. Suyin dented the roof top on her landing and looked up again as HuiFan ran to the cockpit. Huifan increased the speed of the air ship towards the bay so by the time it exploded, it wouldn't be over the festival. Suyin ran leaping from building to building pushed up by earth pillars, trying to think of how she could help. She watched as HuiFan climbed to the top off the airship, jumped onto the roof of the last sky scraper, stopped the entire air ship mid air with her metalbending and crush it into a tight, metal mess. Then flung it over the water as the hunk of metal exploded far away from the greatest concentration of people. Suyin jumped over the last street, landing in a roll on Huifan's building. There was a massive explosion of the lump of metal just as it made contact with the water in the bay blasting water into the air and causing a small tsunami and a bit of rain just as the twenty three year old collapsed from exhaustion, her entire body shaking from the stress.

"I've never bent so much metal in my life!" HuiFan whimpered as the water came down over their heads.

"But you did! And that was incredible!" Suyin exclaimed bending down beside her. "We need to get you back to Kya, so may I have my belt back now?" Suyin asked.

HuiFan could barely move, let alone hand the belt slung over her shoulder back to her aunt. Suyin took it and helped Huifan back to her feet.

"Let's get you back to Kya."

The festival had nearly completely deserted once Suyin got HuiFan back to the group.

"What happened? Why are you like this?" Lin asked with heavy concern as her daughter needed support from her aunt just to walk towards her.

"HuiFan crushed an entire airship!" Hungjian announced as he, Wing and Wei jumped off of the roof of a building.

"And threw it into the bay as it exploded! I saw from my glider!" Jiexue added.

"You did what?" Lin turned to her with either shock or fury. It was hard to tell.

"The debris from a destroyed airship would've hurt the people below!" HuiFan replied in her own defense.

"Don't worry, Lin. It's just overuse I'm sure! Where's Kya?" Suyin asked.

"Right Here!" Kya said rushing over with both hands already encased in glowing water. "Sit her down," Kya ordered. Suyin bent a rock out of the ground and lowered her niece onto it while Lin watched with worry. "Damn! Child! What were you bending?" Kya asked as she lifted the glowing water over the girl's arms, shoulders, and back.

"A bomb filled airship," HuiFan replied proudly.

"Spirits, Lin! You've created a Little metalbending machine-" Kya exclaimed.

"Blame Tenzin!" Lin replied turning away.

"What?!"

"Chief- I mean- Lady Beifong- or Earth Queen Beifong—I am never going to get used to this," Mako sighed.

"Relax, kid! I told you you could always ask me for advice," Lin said impatiently.

"Do you have any idea what we're up against?" Mako asked.

"Pema. According to my mother she's revitalizing the Equalists." Lin replied.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"When could I have? When Raiko was breathing down your neck pulling your strings like a blood bending puppet master trying to arrest me for no reason?"

"Lives could have been spared tonight!" Mako yelled.

Lin rolled her eyes knowing no conclusions such as a death count couldn't be made so soon.

"Chief Beifong, I mean... Chief Mako! We have good news. The last of the festival goers are gone and there have been casualties this evening!" The medic yelled rushing over.

Mako face palmed.

"Breathe, Kid. I'd recommend interrogating the benders that Su and HuiFan got out of that airship. Find out how they got to it in the first place," Lin began.

"Thank you for the suggestion," Mako said bowing to Lin.

"Lin Beifong! What are you doing in Republic City?" Raiko demanded walking up to the group with two guards.

"Upholding our promise to help protect YOUR city!" HuiFan yelled jumping to her feet, balling her fists before Suyin pulled her back down to finish being healed..

"Mr. President. This girl saved us from the Equalists. They loaded eighty of us on an airship laden with bombs and were about to blow it over the festival so the shrapnel would kill more people, but HuiFan bent it into the bay, one of the firebenders from the airship explained rushing over to their aid.

"You bent it into the bay?" Raiko exclaimed in a rage of fury.

"Oh please! Would you prefer to send a pair of barges to pull it out of the water or clean up after the murder of thousands, Raiko! Is it really a choice anyone has to make?" HuiFan yelled defiantly.

"Hold your tongue, HuiFan," Lin ordered.

"I don't know what you're playing at, Beifong, but I don't like it!"

"You seriously think this is our doing? You think this is a game, Raiko? You think I like risking my children's lives? You're hilarious!" Lin said.

"Your children?" Raiko asked.

"Lin, just take them back to the island. I'll talk to Raiko." Tenzin said handing Lin his bison whistle.

"What's going on?"

Lin took it and turned around walking towards Suyin and Izumi and blew the whistle calling Oogi.

"Let's speak at City Hall, somewhere less public." Tenzin suggested.

Raiko nodded.

* * *

"Toph Beifong is in the city?" Raiko asked to confirm.

"Toph and Katara are under the impression that there is a second Equalists uprising brewing; they came to warn us."

"All because you couldn't keep your hands off of your ex girlfriend? Won't that make a story for the papers-"

"Lin was my WIFE! She's served me faithfully since we were five, including the whole time we separated because of circumstances you could never understand, but that's beside the point! The point is there is a battle coming and we all need to be ready when she does!"

"Equalists Huh? You know, I'm really getting tired of yours and the Former Chief's attitude. Maybe I should join your dear Pema. 65% of the city is comprised of nonbenders that have been oppressed by the bending Triads and police- they're the reason I am in office. Maybe joining Pema will have them thanking me even more."

"That is a ludicrous suggestion!" Tenzin replied, aghast.

"If I can't save my whole city from your mistakes, councilman, then I'll save half my city and the better half at that! Now leave, Master Tenzin. Your services are no longer needed here or on Republic City's Council, and stay out of my way!"

Tenzin found Lin waiting on the roof with Oogi.

"How'd the meeting with Raiko go?" she asked with a tenderness in her voice that only Tenzin ever became familiar with.

"Just swell. He's decided to join Pema and bringing Republic City's entire non-bending population into the fold. He claimed they've spent too long oppressed by bending Triads and police. And he dismissed me from the council," Tenzin replied.

"What kind of load of codswallop is that?" Lin asked furrowing her brows.

"I don't know-"

"Well I guess they'll be perfect together, then." Lin replied as they rode Oogi back to Air Temple Island in the moonlight.


	27. Developments

"Jiexue, will you take over the advanced class for the rest of today? Jinora, will you lead the spiritual class, Xiaoyu, the intermediate class, and Kang, will you play with the younger airbenders?" Tenzin asked his mastery level airbending children.

"Yes, Daddy!" Jinora and Kang replied with excitement.

"Yes, Dad," Jiexue and Xiaoyu replied more calmly.

Tenzin thanked them and went to find Lin. She and Su had been spending a lot of time learning from Izumi how to navigate business and politics. Suyin was trying, and managing relatively well for a ruler governing remotely. Lin was running Earthen Fire Refineries from her home office, with secretaries in Republic City, Gaoling, and Ba Sing Se with her Fire Nation Business partner, some mysterious guy named Masaru, handling Fire Nation operations.

Like the old Lin, she barely took breaks from work, unless it was to be with her children. He found the seat across from her desk.

"Yes?" she asked not looking up from the sales and movement reports.

"I was wondering if you would like to take a walk? I feel like I haven't seen you very much at all since the festival a week ago." Tenzin asked.

Lin thought for a moment then sighed and smiled. "Alright."

She replaced her pen in the cup on her desk and stacked the sales summaries and transportation reports into neat organized stacks and moved them to the edge of the desk. He extended a hand and they walked.

* * *

"How is the airbenders' training coming along?" Lin asked as they rounded the first bend in the cliff trail.

"Well enough. I have put Jiexue, and Xiaoyu each in charge of their own group. I don't know what you did to them, but they are truly incredible airbenders."

"I didn't do anything to them. I made them transcribe all of those scrolls you let me borrow years ago and then just taught them the forms and food recipes I know," Lin replied shrugging.

Tenzin smiled. "I can't believe I forgot about Gyatso's Fruit Pies with Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo."

"Don't feel bad about it. You forget a lot of things," Lin said. Tenzin shot her a death glare, that on him, looked about as terrifying as a turtleduck smiling. She just laughed at him. "I am sorry, but not sorry. Kya is right. You're still so easy to provoke!"

"Lin!"

"Fine, I'll stop teasing you..." Lin said reaching up to trace the path of his arrows from his forehead down the back of his neck.

"How is your company?"

"Steady?"

"Not growing?"

"There's nowhere for it to grow. Unless the workers stage an uprising, it essentially owns the world's store of raw metals and ores."

"Wow. Do you like being the Chief Executive of a company more or less than being Chief of Police?"

"I think both are just as depressing as each other, though I must say, being Chief of Police was at least exciting sometimes. Nothing ever changes with Earthen Fireworks,"

"What would be your ideal job?"

"Being a mom full time," Lin replied. Tenzin raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't want that thirty years ago?"

"I was young, naive, ambitious, and desperate for attention from my mother that I have come to accept I never would receive. I am ready now to stop trying," Lin exclaimed. "I've accepted she will never change. But I can, for my children."

"Aunt Toph means well, she just has an interesting way of showing it."

"Like Kya and Bumi?"

"Don't bring my siblings into this!" Tenzin yelled. Lin laughed again

"You're too easy, Baldy," Lin sighed. "So, why did you bring me out here today? To soak up some sunlight? To talk about the most mundane day-to-day happenings of each other's lives as we anticipate a battle to come against your ex-wife?"

"I came because my mother came to talk to me last night. She said she had suggested you start wearing your betrothal necklace again and that you hadn't."

"It is just strange, I think-"

"Why?"

"Because whatever we were, ended sixteen years ago-"

"Did it though? We had to do what the White Lotus told us to do, but did WE really end?"

"I am not so sure anymore,"

"Me neither," Tenzin looked down at his feet as they walked. "Lin, if I put it on you, would you wear it again?"

"I still wear it, just not where anyone sees."

"It would eliminate a lot of questions about Hungjian, Huifan, Jiexue and the others."

"If I ever let them back on the mainland,"

"They're adults, I don't think you can stop them from making those ventures," Tenzin replied.

"You really want this? Can we even do this?"

"I went to clean out my office the other day and found someone had left some paperwork. My marriage with Pema had been annulled. Let me be yours again," Tenzin said. "Forever."

"Forever" she replied, testing out the word in this situation. She stopped walking and opened the palm of her hand using her earthbending to beckon the necklace by the onyx stone, down her arm, to her hand. The black silk ribbon had to be replaced a few times throughout the years, but the stone remained the same, engraved with gold, their symbol of earth and air.

Wordlessly, without explicit permission, Tenzin took the necklace out of the palm of Lin's left hand and tied it around her neck from behind. She turned to face him, with her hand covering it. "It feels so strange after so long," Lin said reaching up to really, fully kiss him on the lips for the first time in what felt like a life time.

"You know, Pema never got a betrothal necklace or a ring. Everything I have done, has always been for you," Tenzin said leaning into her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. She broke away with a death glare that made rookies and hardened cops shit in their seats. She pointed a demanding finger at his chest. "But don't ever- let anyone- tear us apart- again!" Lin said poking him in the chest with each syllable.

He smiled brightly but he seemed skeptical. He put an arm around her and they continued walking, around the entire island, talking about their children, the weather, the trees, the caves they used to hid in when they were three and four.

* * *

The next day, non-benders were marching in the streets with Raiko demanding better protection from the police from the Triads who had been testing the new Chief ever since Lin retired barely eight weeks prior and constantly wreaking havock on the city.

"If I were the president of a great nation, I would talk to the police and not add to the already disturbed public's peace!" HuiFan said bending a giant boulder at her cousin, Wei as they sparred under Toph's supervision.

"If I were president, I'd crush the rebellion with my own two feet!" He said deflecting the boulder, raising two walls on either side of Huifan. She smashed them with her wrists, then kicked her foot, bringing with it a jut of earth that threw Wei into the bay.

"I can't swim!" Wei yelled.

"Then learn!" Huifan replied walking away from the cliff side after assessing the distance and force with which she launched her cousin.

"Excuse me, Miss, my name is Masaru, I was hoping to speak to the Lady Lin Beifong. Do you know if she's in? I have important business matters to discuss with her since I own half of her company." A man said appearing beside Huifan, startling her. Huifan glanced over at Toph with an expression of betrayal.

"Hey, I'm blind!" Toph replied defensively. Huifan frowned.

"You're sitting on a rock?"

"So?" Toph replied. Huifan growled in frustration.

"Masaru?" she asked the man. He nodded. "I'll find her for you." Huifan said beckoning him to follow. She left Masaru waiting at the gates to the courtyard in front of her home. Huifan didn't return, but her mother did. Masaru looked from her scars to her eyes, and an elated smile broke across his face.

"Lin, it is an honor to finally meet you!" he said using her first name. While grateful that someone acknowledged her existence, she still felt a little taken aback by his attempt at familiarity.

"Why are you smiling so widely? I was told this would be a business meeting."

"Yes! Sorry, as I'm sure your Secretary has informed you, I inherited Loban's half of Earthen Fireworks-"

"Yes, I've seen all of the reports, and all of your quasi anonymous donations to various organizations. I have no problem with that. Everything seems to be running smoothly."

"For now,"

"Is there something my secretaries are withholding from me?"

"Shipments to Varrick Industries' factories in Zaofu have been going missing as well as Asami Sato's new manufacturing plant in the Southern Water Tribe. I've wired the both of them, and they are under the impression it is a mistake on our end. After thorough private investigation, it seems that some faction within their factories have been manufacturing weaponry for a person calling him/herself 'The Solution'.It appears their owners are not be aware that they seem to have been objectified into idols for the nonbending revolution brewing in Republic City. My private investigation has yielded significant evidence that enough employees sympathized with the Equalists cause that they've organized their own production lines within the Varrick Industries and Future Industries factories," Masaru informed her. "I just wanted to get your approval before putting an embargo on all shipments to both companies, but wanted to check with you, since their owners are both allies to you."

"An embargo?"

"I know it is a lot of money, but-"

"Anything to stop Pema, but- may I see the reports?" Lin asked.

"Of course." Masaru sais opening his briefcase.

"Have you investigated all of Earthen Dire Refineries' locations for any... misplacement of goods, malpractice, or wrongdoing?"

"Yes. And we've found over a hundred of our seventy two thousand employees guilty. All have been terminated, and some fined, and some jailed."

"Good,"

Lin looked at the reports complete with photographs of new mecha tanks and weaponry, new electric kali sticks and new tasers of sorts under test. It was expansive and frightening.

"Why have none of these reports of missing shipments reached me?" Lin asked.

"I don't know. Who are your secretaries?" Masaru asked.

Lin thought for a moment. All of them were non-benders.

* * *

"Tenzin, Masaru and I will be in the city for a few hours to pay a visit to our United Republic Regional Headquarters," Lin said checking in with the airbender before catching the ferry to the mainland. She wore a black coat to cover the green underneath, and look nonaligned. Masaru wore a black coat with red seams and black slacks with a top walked right into Earthen Fire refinery headquarters.

"Excuse me, you can't go back there without identification!" A security guard said.

Lin unbuttoned her coat showing the green and gold in place of the brown, to signify wealth and held up her Earth Kingdom Identification, Lin Beifong of Gaoling. "This is my company, and I will go where I please," she replied continuing on with Masaru following.

"Your employees don't know you?" Masaru asked.

"Hey, I was chief of Police for nearly forty years, I've only had Earthen Fire Refinery for a few months, and everything seemed to be going smoothly, so I took off for a few weeks to help rebuild my- Tenzin's Northern Air Temple,"

"I suppose I shouldn't have gotten mad at you, if your secretaries intentionally kept the information from you."

They reached the top floor of the building where Lin's office was, if she ever wanted to come into the office. There was a team of over two dozen secretaries answering phone calls from plant managers, distributors and warehouse supervisors.

"You're up first for interrogation," Lin said slamming her hand on the first desk closest to the elevator. "My office-"

"Sorry?"

"There-" She pointed at the golden set of double doors. Lin bent it open revealing the office of the owner that only a few of the secretaries had ever seen.

"Will you make sure they don't speak to each other before during or after these interrogations?" Lin asked.

Masaru nodded.

The young intern followed the scarred lady in the nice coat into the office.

"My name is Ren Feng and I am nineteen years old. I am just an intern that started a few months ago-"

"And are already on the top floor?"

"My father works for your company,"

"What is his name?"

"Boqing Feng-"

Lin wrote down the name. She kicked her shoes off and took down information on the intern's background, family history, and every type of file she was charged with organizing and transporting. They went desk by desk. Some Lin spent more time drilling then others. Then finally, the two that were charged with reporting directly to her. They were the same secretaries that reported to her grandfather. They were ancient, and seemingly loyal to the Beifong Family. Once the last secretary left the room, Masaru came in.

"Nothing-"

"Maybe we need to see archives ourselves." Masaru suggested.

Lin and Masaru found dozens of missing reports that should have been forwarded to Lin but were intercepted.

"Yet all of your workers have trusted you with information?" Lin asked Masaru.

"Yes."

"May I request a team from the Fire Nation Division to interrogate everyone in this building? I will pay the expense-" Lin began.

"It is our company. You don't have to pay anything!" Masaru replied.

"Thank you, Masaru. I don't think I can trust anyone in this building anymore." Lin whispered.

"Understandable given the current climate of affairs. Would you like to go for lunch? I am sure it has been a while since you've last eaten."

"Thank you,"

"Any particular place you like here in Republic City?"

"Ding's Dumplings?"

"Still?"

"It is comfort food. Mom used to get it every friday back when we were actually, relatively happy," Lin replied.

"I can relate. Sometimes I fly all the way to Ba Sing Se just to get my favorite tea from this one shop in the middle ring, then return to the Fire Nation the next morning," Masaru replied as Lin lead the way to the dumpling place.

"Lin, dear girl! Who have you brought with you this time? Forgive me! My eyes are getting old!" the ancient shop owner said hobbling over with the aid of a walking stick.

"There's nothing that needs forgiving. He is Masaru, Mr. Ding. He works with my grandfather's company," Lin said rushing to help the old man sit down.

"Masaru. Fire Nation, eh? Nice to meet you kid! I already like you better than all those pompous twits Lao had Linny parade around the city a few years ago!" Ding with a voice that sounded like all of his missing teeth were jangling around in his throat.

"More like decades, Mr. Ding. I stopped suffering their courtship when I was twenty. When Tenzin returned from his spiritual quest," Lin said.

"Ah yes! The airbending boy. He was always quite strange, in my opinion. Is he still, do you think?"

"No, Mr. Ding. Tenzin is wonderful."

"Last time I heard you mention his name before today, you were listing ways to skewer him with stalagmites in a cave," Ding replied curiously.

Lin laughed as she kneeled before him. "A lot has changed since then."

"I'm sure. Well, Linny, I'll let you get to the menu. Don't worry your sweet heart about me! My sons and daughters, and grand children will take care of your orders shortly, I am afraid my work is nearly done here,"

"Don't say that, Mr. Ding." Lin replied.

"I'm tired, Linny. Don't worry. I'll just take a quick nap. It's not like I'm dying today!" Ding laughed before coughing.

Lin patted him on the back until he fell asleep sitting up in his chair. Lin walked over to the cash register and ducked behind it to grab a menu for Masaru.

"Do you always serve yourself here?" Masaru asked curiously.

"No, only I do. They can get busy, and I know everybody. They trust me."

"It can't hurt that you were the Chief of Police-"

"Actually, a lot of establishments got worried when I came in, because they always assumed I was there to make an arrest or fine them for violating some regulation."

Masaru laughed at that. "And did you have to do that often?"

"You really think a Chief would have to deal with such petty crimes? No? I was just hungry dammit, but for so long, people have just been afraid of me, for as long as I could remember."

"It's sad."

"Yeah."

"Do you think it will change in the future?"

"Probably not," Lin chuckled.

Masaru ordered chicken and shrimp dumplings while Lin always ordered pork chive. They were able to eat in peace here as the restaurant was far enough off the beaten track to not have very much traffic at all, so no one would notice the two billionaires munching on their dumplings.

The radio in the background had been playing cherry until the familiar static sounded for an emergency interruption.

"In the past 24 hours, six nonbending children have gone missing. Bulletins are being currently posted around the city. We ask that all citizens keep calm and help us locate these young people who do not deserve to suffer such terrible fates. The first is named Hein Tan, green eyes, brown hair, eight years old, of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom descent. Next, Mo Duong, blue eyes, black hair, ten years old, of Northern Water Tribe descent. Then..."

"It's as if the spirit world has frozen over," Lin gasped turning to Masaru. Both glanced at each other before racing to the police station.

Nobody even blinked as Beifong walked in and straight back with her Fire Nation accomplice.

"What is going on? Missing children?!" Lin asked Mako.

He let out a sigh of relief. "They have been accused of having impure blood by these new Equalists. An anonymously submitted tip was been received by the police station yesterday evening that they shall be dropped from an airship over the city? Wrapped in burning flags of the nation or nations from which they hail..."

"Flaming big monkeys!" Lin exclaimed.

"I'll order my men to place an embargo on Varrick and Future Industries." Masaru said drawing a portable radio.

Lin nodded.

"Wait Future Industries is good though!" Mako exclaimed.

"Not all of it, kid. We trust Asami, but even our company employs thousands of non-benders who have the numbers to start a production line of unsanctioned products without our notice way up here," Lin replied. "We must take extra precautions!"

"I understand but-"

"No buts-"

"It's done," Masaru said turning back to face Lin and Mako again.

"Wait who is this guy? Your boyfriend or something-"

"Business partner, Wait- WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER?! CHILDREN ARE MISSING!" Lin yelled frightening both Masaru and Mako before taking up pacing in her old office.

"If she we're a firebender-"

"We'd both would have been barbecued just now," Masaru finished.

"Are you a bender?" Mako asked.

"Yep!" Masaru replied proudly.

* * *

Back on Air Temple Island, all the adults had been huddled around the radio waiting patiently for more news, while discussing next steps. Tenzin was trying to figure out how to track down where Pema could be. Suyin was debating pulling together an army. Izumi warned against it and suggested a small and elite search party. Kya was listening to the radio ready to tell everyone to shut up if any news was announced and Bumi was hitting the cactus juice hard, not wanting to cope with the news.

Masaru and Lin approached the group in a solemn silence.

"We spoke with Mako,"

"What did he say?"

"They're searching furiously, and that they received an anonymous note that the children will be dropped from airships wrapped in the flags of their forefathers as a statement. They're all nonbending children of benders," Lin recounted.

"Like Bumi was," Kya said rubbing her brother's back while he retched up his lunch and cactus juice contents.

"-which we found curious. The Equalists claim their blood is impure, and-" Lin continued to report before being interrupted.

"Tenzin, how could you marry such a psychotic bitch?" Izumi interrupted.

"Look, none of knew this was ever going to happen, but it did. We just have to move forward!" Lin cut her off.

"Mom! Mom!" Opal yelled running up to the adults huddled around the radio. "JUNIOR IS MISSING!" Opal exclaimed.

They scoured the island.

"How DARE they lay HAND on my FIRST BORN SON!" Suyin yelled shelling the cliffsde with boulders from the beach, bending until her body became numb.

"We don't know if Pema is behind it!" Lin replied jumping on her.

"She has to be! He is the son of a bender!" Suyin yelled.

"A! ONE BENDER!" Kya pointed out.

"Besides, he is a grown adult! I expect it would be rather difficult to abduct an adult-" Izumi said folding her arms.

"But he is not a bender! If they just shocked him with those kali sticks, he'd be out for days, probably!" Suyin exclaimed spitting sand out of her mouth with her sister lying on top of her to keep her from moving.

"Relax, Su, we'll find him," Kya promised.

Suyin sighed and shoved herself off the sand and bent a bit into her sister's face just for effect and then scaled the cliff to go sulk in the house. That evening, under the cover of dark, Lin, Suyin, Tenzin, Kya, Wing ,Wei, Izumi, Iroh, and Ursa left to go search for Junior.

"I HATE BEING LEFT BEHIND-" HuiFan exclaimed.

"Eh. You get used to it after a while," Toph said sitting beside her.

"Where do you think Junior is?" Huifan asked plopping herself down beside her grandmother.

"Think? I know exactly where he is but does your mother and aunt ever listen to me? Nah! They're to wrapped up in their little know-it-all detective heads that they don't listen to their old lady. They think I'm high off the cactus juice most of the time. They're not wrong, but it still hurts. Now go get one of your airbending sisters. Only one of them. Any more people and the rescue will go horribly wrong," Toph ordered.

HuiFan returned moments later with Jiexue.

"There's a small island just in the Fire Nation. It is not big enough to land on, so you'll have to take juicy to Crescent Island first then swim or sail or whatever to the other island where the prison is. Don't get caught. The non-benders are on the lowest floor of the prison, deep underground. And the walls are made of platinum," Toph told her two granddaughters.

"Not a problem for the greatest earthbender in the world," HuiFan replied with a determined scowl.

"Go quickly! Radio said they intend to drop these kids around ten tomorrow morning!" Toph called after them. They nodded.

After commandeering their cousin Opal's sky bison, Juicy, the Beifong sisters landed on Crescent Island by midnight. They found a few planks of wood and tied them together with cable fashioning a raft. Jiexue propelled them across the water with her airbending all the way to the prison island.

"It is massive, and deep-" Huifan said stepping onto solid ground again.

"But we can get down there, right?"

"Of course! We can get anywhere!"

Jiexue held onto her sister's belt for guidance through the dark as her sister tunneled them underground to the platinum bunker. She tore it open and repaired it.

"Does your seismic sense work down here?" Jiexue asked in a whisper once they were in a deserted hallway with about a dozen turns.

"It should." HuiFan replied. "I don't see him yet." The two girls walked on, HuiFan with her eyes straight forward, scanning the rooms with her feet while Jiexue peered in some of the open windows.

Then they reached a bunch of wooden cells.

"For earthbenders," HuiFan whispered.

"Is anyone in here?" Jiexue yelled down the seemingly vacant hall.

"I never took you to be so stupid!" Hui-Fan yelled slashing one door open and shoving her sister in then joining her. They turned and faced an earthbending youngster. They motioned for him to remain silent and pressed their backs up against either side of the door. The door was pushed open by two curious equalists only to be immediately gagged by HuiFan's metal strips and ensnared in her cables.

"Hey kid, do you know anything about this place?"

The boy shook his head.

"I'm going to see if the people in the metal cells can help us, you investigate the wooden ones," HuiFan ordered her sister.

Jiexue nodded and the two ran in opposite directions. The boy glanced between them and followed Huifan.

Huifan inspected the first cell with seismic sense then unlocked it and slid it open to reveal a little girl crouched in the dark in water tribe clothes.

"Is this your home?" Huifan asked. The girl shook her head. "Well come on then!" The girl got up and followed. She heard the crashing of wood as her little sister blasted the wooden doors off their cells with one swing of her staff.

"Sorry!" Jiexue called.

Great! We'll have to be fast now! Someone must have heard! I should have brought Xiaoyu instead!" Huifan said. With one motion she threw all of the platinum doors open. Little humans dressed in reds and blues and greens all wandered curiously into the hallway.

"Any of you waterbenders?" Huifan asked.

Five raised their hand out of maybe thirty.

"Are you trained?" Huifan asked.

They nodded.

"She punched a hole in the platinum then bent a tunnel.

"You will take it and sail towards the moon on ice sheets, then wait by the sky bison. Stay hidden!" Huifan said ushering them into the tunnel. The Beifong Sisters ran the opposite direction to the main structure. It was a prison, and a factory.

"Flaming spirits!" Huifan cursed seeing a giant cavern with a replica of Kuvira's spirit mech being created, with wings.

"You know what this means?" Jiexue asked.

"Junior's working for Pema-" Huifan said turning to her sister. "Look out!" She threw Jiexue off the railing, and flung a metal strip around the guard's neck, pushing him away. Jiexue opened her glider and flew landing on the head of the massive mech. An alarm sounded.

"So much for being discreet!" Jiexue yelled crouching low on the head, with her glider flattened beside her. Huifan anchored the cable into the ceiling and pulled herself to her sister's side on the giant mech.

"At least we have a good visual from here." Huifan said looking around at the flurry of activity as the guards surrounded the cavern with the giant mech.

"We have two options: leave now, or die trying to find Baatar, who probably doesn't even want to leave," Jiexue said.

"It doesn't matter what Baatar wants. He owes his mother an explanation, at least. Then we can throw him to the eelhounds, if mother allows." Huifan replied.

"But we're outnumbered!"

"We're Beifongs. Numbers don't mean anything!" Huifan replied pulling the ceiling of the cave down around them, and bending boulders into guards on each level of the cavern factory.

By the time the rubble cleared, the two sisters were nowhere to be seen, having already disappeared into the earth above.

"I can feel his pathetic heartbeat!" Huifan said excitedly. They crashed into an office.

"Raiko?" Jiexue seemed surprised. Tenzin never told her.

"How dare you TRAITOR!" Huifan yelled at Baatar Jr. who was bent over some papers on a desk. Behind the desk, Raiko and Pema stood side by side, both wearing black and gold with the united republic symbol pinned on their chests. Pema's hair was different, put up in an Earth Kingdom bun.

"This is who Lin sent to apprehend us?" Pema laughed.

"Mom didn't send us, and frankly, I don't give two shits about you!" Huifan snapped. "We're doing this for Aunt Su!"

"My mother is a fool! She should have known this was coming! The time of hers and other benders' oppressive rule has come to an end!"

"You didn't seem to have a problem with benders when Kuvira was in your bed!" Huifan snapped!"

"Kuvira was merely misled!"

"BY YOU!"

The two girls moved to attack, but electric cables were sent their way by Pema and Raiko.

The girls dove and rolled.

Huifan cuffed, gagged, and choked Pema and pinned her to the wall while Jiexue threw Raiko towards the fire place in the office, hitting his back hard against the mantle, knocking him out.

"You can come quietly, or in chains, kicking and screaming. We're really easy going!" Huifan offered.

"You'll never take me," Baatar Jr. declared pressing a remote in the palm of his hands. Some white solid, unbendable substance covered the walls, floors and celings.

"What is this?!"

"Plastic! A new invention! Now for the main event" He put on a gas mask and initiated the fill phase of the trap. Jiexue made an airbubble around herself and her sister.

"But you forget, I still have my metal!" Huifan said slicing through the plastic ceiling. She wrapped a cable around Baatar Jr. Relinquished her grasp on Pema, and removed Baatar's gas mask, so he inhaled enough to pass out, while Jiexue lifted them out of the tunnel with a vortex as Huifan bent the roof higher until the only thing above them was sky.

Huifan sealed the hole in the ground with lava for good measure, before collapsing on her back from exhaustion. Adrenaline gone. She turned to see a tied up, unconscious cousin, Baatar Jr. and her 18 year old younger sister, Jiexue on all fours, breathing heavily as if she just ran the perimeter of the globe. She took a deep breath and pulled herself to her feet again. She felt the pitter patter of quick, light footsteps coming towards her. The children.

"I thought I told you to go to the bison!" Huifan yelled at them.

"We forgot which direction," one explained. Huifan sighed and pointed towards the moon.

They all boarded ice and wooden rafts and headed towards Crescent Island where they were met with a ship with the Earthen Fire logo.

"Masaru?" Huifan recognized the man apparently captaining it.

"Thought Juicy might need a little help with all of the children," the firebender Huifan's mother's age replied.

"How did YOU know where we were?!" Huifan demanded.

"Lets just say, Toph trusts me," Masaru replied with a wide smile while Huifan still eyed him suspiciously.

Jiexue almost walked past them, but Huifan grabbed her sister's wrist. "Stay by me, please." Jiexue nodded and didn't leave her sister's side, until they had returned to Republic City.


	28. Long Live the Earth Queen

Air Temple Island was visibly shaking, causing water to smash against the ships and disturb those docked in the harbor on the mainland. BOTH Beifong women were livid. Suyin because the search for Baatar Jr. had been unsuccessful, and Lin becuase she returned to the island to find Huifan and Jiexue also missing.

"Huifan is the greatest earthbender in the world, and Jiexue is arguably the greatest airbender in the world. They'll be fine. They will come back!" Izumi said trying to comfort Lin.

"And if they don't what then?!" Lin yelled throwing her arms back in frustration as another fissure created in the bay causing a minor tsunami to head towards the shores.

"Maybe it is a good thing we aren't living on the mainland," Kya commented. There was a crash down no the beaches. The three women ran over to see Suyin beating the walls of the cliffs again.

Lin took a few steps backwards, and then took a running jump off of the cliff landing in a crater.

"So... do you want to stop them?" Izumi asked Kya. Kya shrugged.

"Your highness!" a royal guard addressed Izumi. "Master Kya! there's a ship approaching the docks of Air Temple Island!"

"A ship?"

"Not the ferry?"

"A ship, my ladies!"

"Should we bring t hem?" Kya asked glancing down at the two Beifong women destroying the beach below.

"Probably. They'll want to know everything that happens on their island," Izumi replied. Kya looked over the cliff edge and raised a hand towards each of the women below, then she lifted them off the beach and tossed them onto the land above, both of them screaming.

"What the hell?!" Suyin asked startled, creating a crater to soften her own landing. Lin rolled as soon as Kya released her grip on her.

"Did you just bloodbend us?" Lin asked, her eyes looking even greener in her heightened fury.

"Mom said I should be practicing," Kya replied with a smile, folding her arms.

Lin growled.

"There's a ship coming in. We thought you guys might be interested. We don't know whose it is," Izumi explained.

"Fine, we'll come," Suyin said standing up, bending all the dust and sand from her green and black dress.

When the four women arrived at the top of the stairs, they saw Tenzin, Baatar, Iroh, and Bumi already waiting. Lin looked immediately for the flag on the ship for some sort of indicating of the crew's allegiance.

An Earthen Fire Ship? Lin recognized the company logo. "Masaru!" Lin growled marching down to the docks. "I trusted you!" she said bending a boulder at his head as he walked.

"Woah!" Masaru ducked and rolled out of the way. The boulder almost hit Jiexue, but Huifan disintegrated it before it could reach, but Lin didn't see their unharmed bodies in her blinding rage. "Lin, please listen. I can explain!"

"YOU LED MY DAUGHTERS ON A SEARCH MISSION?" Lin screamed sinking him into the ground up to his neck, lifting another boulder above his head, ready to crush the firebending billionaire.

"I was simply retrieving them! Your mother sanctioned the mission! Not me! I would have talked them out of it, but they were already gone by the time I was aware!" Masaru replied closing his eyes.

"My mo- my MOTHER?!" Lin shrieked. "You really expect me to believe that?!" Lin asked raising the boulder higher.

"Linny, he's not lying. You can tell that much. I sent HuiFan and Jiexue to Junior's exact location. They just ended up rescuing more than their original target, and I figured a bison couldn't hold thirty some odd kids, so I sent Masaru with a ship," Toph explained pushing Masaru out of the ground with a slide of her heal.

"They could have gotten killed!" Lin screamed, sending the massive boulder in Toph's direction, but purposefully missing, because she could never truly hurt her mother

"But we weren't, Mom! Relax!" HuiFan said wrapping her arms around her tense mother, Jiexue following.

Lin's chest heaved and her muscles all flexed as she stared at Masaru casually brushing the dirt and dust off his fancy coat.

"So did you find Junior?"

"Yes, but we have some have bad news," Jiexue remembered.

"What?" Suyin asked.

"Junior built another platinum mech like the one Kuvira used to destroy Republic City," Jiexue announced. "And this one has wings."

"No!"

"I stood on it with my own two feet! I could feel the entire thing!" HuiFan exclaimed.

"How did they pay for all that?" Kya asked.

"By robbing all of our refineries, probably," Lin muttered shaking her head in frustration.

"Wait!" Masaru interjected.

"How long has Jr. been allied with Pema and Raiko?" Masaru asked.

"I don't know-"

"Does heave access to the vaults at Zaofu?" Masaru asked.

"FUCK IT ALL!" Suyin yelled running back to the house to make a call.

"How are you holding up?" Baatar asked finding his wife pouring over the most recent batch of paperwork delivered from Ba Sing Se and Zaofu.

"How do think I am holding up?" Suyin sighed sarcastically. "Masaru is right. Junior got into the treasury at Zaofu to help fund the Equalist Revival."

"What's the damage?"

"Six million bahn." Suyin said reviewing the financial records that she usually overlooked, just glossing progress and build summaries.

"Sweet Spirits! Thats nearly twelve billion yuans!" Baatar exclaimed picking up the paper as Suyin sat down in her desk chair running her fingers through her hair.

"Will this bankrupt us?"

"It hurts, but it shouldn't bankrupt us. He only managed to get into the humanitarian account. There should be at least forty million bahn still in there, and the development treasury has an annual spending budget of sixty five billion bahn. We can ask the development sector to lend some to the humanitarian sector and revise the conditions for withdrawing from the humanitarian sector as well as those with the authority to access it..." Suyin sighed.

"We'll recover. I know it!" Baatar said planting a kiss on the top of Suyin's head. She covered her face and looked up at a nondescript place on the plain wooden walls of her office on Air Temple Island.

"It is okay to cry."

"Beifong's can't cry. We were made that way." Suyin replied standing up.

"Where are you going now?"

"To see my son!"

Suyin descended the steps to the temple basement to find Baatar Junior bound from ankles to shoulders in a thick metal cable and HuiFan and Jiexue standing over him.

"He's rather annoying, now that we've actually spent some time together," Jiexue said to Suyin.

"Thanks, Jiexue. That is so kind of you to say," Suyin said narrowing her eyes at the eighteen year old.

"Sorry," Jiexue sighed bowing and backing out of the Temple's basement with her sister.

"Girls, will you go get your parents, my husband, and Princess Izumi? We'll interrogate him together. I will lead." Suyin asked gravely.

They seated Junior in a chair in the vacated classroom on Air Temple Island.

"Explain yourself!" Suyin demanded.

"There is nothing to explain! They're lying! Huifan and Jiexue! And Masaru helped them! The girls just wanted attention! They spent so long imprisoned in Aunt Lin's cage that they wanted an excuse to show off their powers to the world. They just wanted to look like heroes when you returned from an unsuccessful search! I have been here the whole time-" Baatar Junior insisted, tears forming in his eyes.

Beifongs don't cry. Suyin thought to herself as Junior let the first of many forced tears fall from his eyes.

"Liar!" Huifan yelled.

"I am an airbender! What interest do I have in lies and attention? My ancestors lived on mountain peaks where scum like you couldn't reach-" Jiexue added.

"Jiexue! We are not above others and we do not call people scum!" Tenzin scolded. Jiexue folded her arms and frowned.

"All three of you are Beifongs whether you like it or not, so zip it!" Lin added.

"Junior is a pretty terrible liar. Honestly, you guys, do you EVER use the sight I give you?!" Toph asked walking into the room with her hands behind her back.

"Tell them how you made those bombs for Pema. Tell them how when Raiko asked for an armored ship, uyou obliged. Tell them how you betrayed your blood for the SECOND time and gave the Equalists access to Zaofu's treasury!" HuiFan yelled.

"Six million bahn," Suyin growled. She lifted Baatar up with one hand by the collar of his shirt and pressed the other to his chest, to detect his heartbeat more easily since her seismic sense was not as strong as her mother's. "Enough lying."

Baatar Junior stopped crying. His mouth curled into a wicked grin and he started laughing.

"What good could possibly come out of this, Junior?"

"Equality! TRUE equality! You cannot intimidate me any longer, Mother! It is a great thing to share the wealth of Zaofu with the rest of the world, especially the non-benders that make up its backbone!"

"Zaofu's wealth is not yours to share with the world! It belongs to the city and the city belongs to me!"

"Well, then, mother, I am sorry it has to end this way," Junior said gravely. Before anyone could move, Junior gurgled something up from his throat and spat down on his mother's face.

She dropped him and tried to wipe off the sticky substance mixed with her son's saliva. But it wasn't just a liquid. There were tiny bits of some unknown metal in it. Tiny machines swam through the liquid in search for Suyin's skin and invaded.

She dropped her son and backed away.

"Kya! Get Kya!" Suyin whimpered weakly stumbling back as she felt the tiny machines crawling under skin, releasing some sort of poison into her blood stream. She fell to her hands and knees, her whole body shaking. Jiexue bolted with a gust of air.

"What did you do to her!" Huifan yelled jumping into a fighting stance while Baatar Senior dropped by his wife's side.

"Don't try lying!" Lin added wrapping a metal strip around Baatar Junior's neck.

"What we are going to do to all benders if they get in our way on our path towards TRUE global EQUALITY!. You are not heroes but freaks with the unnatural ability tto defy the laws of gravity and nature!" Baatar Junior yelled.

"No, you're the freak with the unnatural ability to attempt to kill the woman who gave life and love to you and feel NOTHING!" Huifan replied punching a dent in the metal cables that wrapped around Baatar Junior's body, knocking the air out of him.

Baatar Junior just recovered quickly and laughed, madly. "Long live the Earth Queen," Junior said with a wicked grin.

Lin stomped her right foot back, kicking up a pebble, while still holding the metal around Baatar's neck with her left hand, then punched with her right hand, sending the pebble straight at Junior's forehead, knocking him clean out, then dropping him again to rush to her sister's side.

"Suyin, don't leave us! Kya is coming."

"Can I at least try to get the mini-mechs out, Mama?" Huifan asked kneeling.

"Be careful, my sweet."

"Grandma Toph, do you know the composition of the bots?" Huifan asked searching her Aunt's body.

"Lead and mercury-" Toph replied.

"Huifan closed her eyes and pulled the mini-mechs out of her aunts bloodstream, trying to bend them into microscopic particles to remove through the skin. Toph made a rock shell to receive the poison as it was extracted. But there was still the gel.

Suyin's temperature spiked and sweat beaded along her hairline.

"That's all of it, Grandma-" Huifan said pulling the last of the lead and mercury from her Aunt's body.

Toph sealed the rock shell and stuck it in her pocket.

"What is the poison?" Kya asked arriving with Katara.

"I don't know. I remember feeling them mix the metals a long time ago when I was living in the swamp, but I couldn't feel the liquids, so I couldn't tell what the gel is made out of," Toph replied. Kya moved the healing water over her friend's body.

"Any suggestions, Ma?" Kya asked.

"The two waterbenders worked while Suyin lay unconsious, shaking violently, with her head in her husband's lap.

"Tenzin, could you go to Zaofu and have the treasury temporarily freeze all transactions. And Lin, could you get Huan and go to Ba Sing Se. Until the Republic is established. It is still a monarchy, and if Su doesn't wake-" Baatar choked.

"She will! It takes more than a little poison to kill a Beifong!" Lin replied. Tenzin put an arm around Lin and squeezed her while she watched as the two master waterbenders and best healers in the world tried to reverse the effects of the poison.

"Aunt Zumi, will you see that Junior is tied up and returned to the Temple's basement and that he won't be able to spit again?" Huifan asked.

"Gladly, Izumi replied grabbing the young man by the collar, dragging him out of the classroom, and dropping him at the feet of the royal Fire Nation guards. They hoisted him up and followed their Princess.

Meanwhile, royal Earth Kingdom Guards brought Lin a radio for her to make a call to Zaofu to freeze the entire treasury and inform them of Baatar Junior's betrayal.

"Hey Dad, you sent for me?" Huan asked arriving in the main house, where Suyin had been moved to a bed.

"Your mother has been poisoned." Baatar informed his next oldest son.

"What?" if Huan were shocked, his face didn't show it.

"And until the Earth Kingdom is a Republic, it is still a kingdom. This means you are-"

"The Earth King," Huan finished. He looked down. The streak of dyed green hair fell in his face, covering the half of his face with the unpierced eyebrow.

"But Dad, I don't know how to be a king,"

"Just listen to the people, and try to make them happy. Ba Sing Se should be pretty stable right now. Zaofu needs help, but Lin will go. Just make sure nobody else takes the throne until your Mother comes to again," Baatar Senior said with a hand on his son's shoulder.

"May I bring someone to help me?" Huan asked.

"I think that is a good idea, Son," Baatar said. Huan turned to Lin and then to Tenzin.

"Sir, Master Tenzin, with your permission, may I request that Ikki accompany me to Ba Sing Se? She is an accomplished airbender and a rather good leader and peacekeeper."

"Wouldn't Jinora be better suited to assist you?"

"Jinora is a better teacher. I think she is more needed here to train the other airbenders in preparation for the battle to come," Huan replied.

"If she agrees, I will allow it." Tenzin replied.

Huan bowed to him and left to find the young airbender.

"Tenzin, she's only eleven," Lin said to him, her tone heavy with concern for the girl.

"And my Father was twelve when he stabilized the world. Surely Ikki can help Huan maintain a stable city," Tenzin said. "And I know Huan won't let her get hurt. He cares about her."

"I guess I just haven't seen them enough to notice," Lin sighed leaning against him. "I should probably go to Zaofu, just to make sure my orders are executed. It would also probably be good to check on Gaoling on my way back to Republic City."

"Please don't go alone," Tenzin asked.

"I'll bring Jinkun and Hungjian with me," Lin said.

"Not Huifan?" Tenzin asked.

"The boys and I can protect ourselves from anything. Huifan can protect the entire Island from anything if needed," Lin replied. "She will do better here."

"Alright, safe, okay? You'll take Oogi?"

Lin nodded and kissed him on the lips before leaving.


	29. Aid and Recovery

Huifan, Kya, and Izumi watched Suyin in shifts around the clock to make sure her condition remained stable.

"Will my mom be okay?" Opal asked visiting with Wing and Wei, all three of them crying quietly.

"Sweet spirits, you must have gotten those tears from your father's side of the family!" Toph declared with mild irritation. Baatar frowned. "It will take a little more than some poison to take your mother, MY DAUGHTER out of the game. Trust me," Toph said holding her daughter's limp hand, feeling her frail body.

"I hope so," Opal replied.

"I know so," Toph insisted, trying to be comforting to her grandchildren, hiding her own fear, pain, and anger.

* * *

On the eighth day, Huifan convinced Izumi's daughter Ursa to help her interrogate Baatar Junior.

"Why me?" Ursa asked.

"Because you can generate lightning," Huifan replied plainly.

Ursa shrugged.

"Why did you do it? You can't possibly believe it will bring equality," Huifan asked Baatar Junior when he woke up again.

"Because I am tired of living in the shadow of a bender!" Baatar Jr. replied.

"You didn't seem to mind serving Kuvira!" Ursa pointed out.

"She is different!" Junior replied.

"Because she fucked you?" Huifan asked.

"No! Well-"

"Does Pema do you too now?" Ursa asked.

"No-"

"How about Raiko?" Huifan asked.

"Spirits, Huifan! You're not going to accomplish anything by this! The weapons are made despite Masaru's great efforts to stop us! Kill me if you want; it won't change anything!" Junior yelled. "You'll all get what is coming to you inevitably."

* * *

A week turned into a month that Lin and Huan were gone fixing the damage Baatar Jr. had done to Zaofu and Ba Sing Se remotely behind his mother's back while she lay in a coma on Air Temple Island.

Masaru had Earthen Fireworks constructed its own airfield on the border of Republic City and the Earth Kingdom on Earth Kingdom Territory to protect Future Industries and Varrick Industries from persecution from the non-bending community.

* * *

Huifan, Jiexue, and Xiaoyu were walking the cliff path around the island when they saw the ferry approaching the docks with several strangers accompanied by the police chief.

"Hi Huifan, and..."

"These are my sisters. Jiexue and Xaioyu." Huifan introduced them.

"Lin Beifong birthed airbenders?" the frumpy Fire Nation Councilwoman asked.

"Yes," Jiexue confirmed with the most unammused expression on her beautiful young face.

"Nice to meet you ladies," Mako said blushing, flustered by their appearances. "Um... well these are the councilmen of Republic City, and we're here for Chief- um... Lady Lin Beifong," Mako said formally.

"If you want to arrest her, she's not here. She left for Zaofu a month ago and we don't know when she'll be back," Huifan replied eyeing the council members suspiciously.

"We're not here to arrest her. We need her help. Raiko has officially abandoned Pema and is collaborating on some massive invasion plan of Republic City to bring its benders to kneel."

"And what do you want our Mom to do about that?" Huifan asked.

"We need someone to lead Republic City's defense,"

"Isn't that your responsibility,  _Chief_?" Jiexue asked.

"Please, Misses. If we cannot reach Lady Lin Beifong, can we at least speak with Master Tenzin about rejoining the City council," the northern Water Tribe representative asked.

Huifan glanced to her siblings. Their father did maintain the right to refuse. "Fine," Huifan said beckoning the councilmembers and police Chief to follow her. Her sisters took up at the back of the group acting as guards in case any of the strangers decided to pull any funny business on the island. The Councilmembers glanced around as they walked noticing members of the metalbending Zaofu Security team, Royal Earth Kingdom Guards, and even a few Dai Li Agents as well as Royal Fire Nation Guards, White Lotus Sentries, and Private Earthen Fire Security guards brought by Masaru for the duration of his stay. The island was crowded with various trainings for the airbenders happening everywhere and off-duty guards sparring to keep up their fitness, while not working.

Huifan motioned for them to wait, then knocked on the door to the temple. "Dad! Some councilmen are here to see you. Councilmen and the Chief of Police, Mako." Huifan called.

"Thank you, you and your sisters may go. I'll talk to them." Tenzin said appearing in the doorway.

* * *

Mako ended up getting permission from Tenzin to ask Huifan for help with a special mission.

"So, what's happened since that dreadful festival?" Huifan asked, standing with the Police Chief and her two sisters in a courtyard on Air Temple Island.

"Bending triads are begging for protection and non-bending children of benders are being targeted and persecuted by nonbending families for being almost as impure as benders!" Mako replied.

"Well, shit Chief. What are we supposed to do? Set up a shelter or refuge?"

"I need your help finding the people doing the kidnappings. We have a list of the people they are likely to target this afternoon and evening. If you could capture one, or some..." Mako began.

Huifan turned to her sister's. "We can do that." Huifan confirmed.

"We'd be glad to help," Xiaoyu added.

"Great. Do any of you know how to drive and/or have a car?" Mako asked. "We will compensate you for your time and any damages that may be inflicted on yourselves, and your car-"

"We all can drive and don't worry about compensating the damage done to our cars. We have plenty, trust me," Huifan replied.

"Of course you do," Mako said quietly remembering the wealth of both branches of the Beifong Family.

"And we want to help the city and keep innocent people safe." Xiaoyu added.

"Thank you so much! If you could meet me at the station in a half an hour, I can get you the list of names and locations where we believe the kidnapping will occur." Mako said.

"See you in a half hour!" Huifan ran to her room to get extra metal strips for her back just in case and ran into Izumi, Iroh and Ursa on the way.

"Aunt Zumi, can Ursa come with us on a special mission?"

"Sure, keep each other safe okay?"

"Thanks, Mom!" Ursai said kissing her mother following Huifan. The firbender and the earth bender held onto Jiexue and Xiaoyu's gliders. Thirty minutes later, three brand new, latest model Satomobiles rolled into the station.

"WOAH!Luxury 174AG SATOMOBILES?" Mako gasped.

"Sorry we only brought three, Chief. Apparently somebody never taught the Princess how to drive!" Huifan said turning to glare at her passenger.

"No, it's quite alright-"

"We thought we could cover more ground if we go separately," Ursa told the Police Chief.

"It would be safer if you guys stick together. Watch each other's back. If the kidnappers can't capture their targets, they may just kill them once they've seen too much," Mako told them.

"Alright, we'll take my car then, Jiexue, Xiaoyu, in!" Huifan called to her sisters who both climbed out of their cars and into the back seat of their older sisters. "Jiejie, you drive." Huifan said changing places with the eighteen year old.

"Here's the list don't lose it. I don't want their locations to be compromised." Mako said handing it to the nearest person, Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation.

"Do you need it back?" Ursa asked examining the names, holding it so Xiaoyu and HuiFan could see.

"No, but" Mako began to say, by which point the paper had been engulfed in blue flames.

"Where to first, Ursa?" Jiexue asked in the driver's seat.

"Mishka Apartments on Lion Turtle Plaza." Ursa replied.

Jiexue backed out and pulled away while Mako watched, hoping praying they will come back with someone.

* * *

"Where are Lin's girls?" Toph yelled slamming her fist into the side of the house breaking a hole in the wall.

"Tenzin let them help Mako with something down at the station," Katara said pouring a cup of tea for the elderly and blind earthbender.

"That firebender boy really is the world's worst police chief I have ever heard of! When I was chief, the officers actually got shit done. I didn't need to solicit the assistance of little girls!" Toph ranted.

"Lin was Xiaoyu's age when she joined the police force outright and Ursa and Huifan are both in their twenties already, so what is the problem?" Katara asked sitting down opposite her friend.

"The problem is not my grandchildren! Flaming hog monkeys, those three could take on the entirety of either royal army alone and slaughter them. The problem is that MY police force has gone to shit since Lin retired. It can't even handle a couple of hostage situations, potential kidnappings and their chief is a coward for seeking outside , where's the reincarnation of your hubby in all of this?" Toph asked.

"Korra? She and Asami left a few days a go for vacation at the Misty Palms Oasis Katara replied.

"Is that how the Sato girl celebrates the embargo Masaru placed on her company? And how the current Avatar deals with global problems and the potential destruction in the single most diverse city in the world?"

"Toph, don't be so hard on them. They're young,"

"The Avatar and the Sato girl are twenty and twenty one! What were you and Twinkle Toes when you dealt with Ozai? Four and fourteen?"

"Aang was twelve, Toph."

"Makes no difference to me. He still acted like a baby!" Toph yelled while Katara rubbed her head wearily. "They need to start taking responsibility for their actions."

"Maybe they are under the impression that this whole quarrel is a family matter between Lin, Tenzin and Pema and their kids. Maybe they think THEY should be taking responsibilities for their actioins."

"Bulloctopuses!"

"Do you mean bulloctopi?"

"Spirits, Katara! Can't you just let me rant in peace? I know you never liked any of the air acolytes either. Don't try to blame this whole thing on Linny."

"I am not putting the blame on anybody! Lin and Tenzin love each other. They always have. If Pema is offended, whatever, we can't control her."

"She brainwashed my grandson to poison his own mother!"

"Okay, if we're ranting, Junior was weak to begin with if he was willing to follow Kuvira's imperialistic agenda," Katara replied.

"Whatever! That doesn't make it okay for Pema to stoop so low as to steal my grandson... and my son-in-law!"

The two old ladies' tea time was interupted when the Fire Princess ran into the kitchen with a heat of excitement radiating from her body.

"Aunt Toph! Aunt Katara! Come quickly! Su's awake!" Izumi announced barging in on the two old ladies' afternoon tea.

Both ran as fast as their bony old legs could.

"Suyin!" Toph took her daughter's hand.

"Hey, Mom. How are things?" Suyin asked in a weak whisper.

"Better now that you're not able to fuck it all up!" Toph replied.

"You are HORRIBLE!" Katara scolded swatting her friend on the arm. "Your daughter nearly died and you're reprimanding her for no reason!"

"It's quite alright, Aunt Katara. I am used to it," Suyin said weakly.

"Mom!" Opal cried running inside.

"Slow down guys! She's still incredibly weak!" Kya said blocking the twins from running in after Opal.

"Not fair! She's an airbender!" Wing whined.

"Yeah! She runs faster!" Wei complained.

"Life isn't fair, get over yourselves!" Toph yelled at them.

"Where's Huan?" Suyin asked. "And Junior."

"Junior has been under guard 24-7 in the temple's basement since he poisoned you," Izumi answered.

"And Huan?"

"With Ikki in Ba Sing Se to claim the Earth Kingdom throne in your absence," Izumi added. "Just in case you..."

Suyin sighed. "He should have gone alone."

Izumi let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't angry! "I thought you were going to protest him going at all."

Suyin looked up. "No, Huan would be a good king. He has a gentle spirit and a kind heart, but he is not weak. I say that he should have gone alone only because the people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong, and will not easily bend the knee if they are given the slightest reason to believe that they are actually being ruled by Ikki though Huan."

"Ikki is only eleven," Kya reminded Su.

"Even more reason for them to be suspicious. 'No one would suspect a child, right?' the commander may think. No wonder she was sent,"

"We could send a letter for Ikki to come back." Kya suggested.

"Don't bother. She has probably already been seen by the High Lords if Huan has made it to the palace already," Suyin replied with a flimsy wave of the hand. "So how long have I been out?"

"A little over a month,"

"Spirits! What else has happened since? Where's Lin?"

"In Zaofu freezing the treasury and making sure they still know you're in charge, even if from afar."

"Did you find anything out about the poison or those tiny platinum bots?"

"How do you know that they're platinum?" Izumi asked.

"I am a metalbender. I think I can feel metal that I can't bend in my own body," Suyin replied narrowing her eyes.

"Riiiiight,"

"And Tenzin?"

"He is back on the council since Raiko officially abdicated to join Pema's cause," Kya informed her.

"What?" Suyin asked.

"Okay, enough questions! Su, you need to rest. Out everybody out!" Katara ordered shooing everyone out of Suyin's room.

"But we didn't even get to properly see our mom yet!" Wing yelled.

"Yeah! Opal hogged all of her time!" Wei added.

"Hug her and rest! She needs rest-" Katara ordered.

"Aunt Katara, I have been asleep for over a month! I don't need rest. I need to find out what is going on!" Suyin protested trying miserably to push past them and stand up.

"Stop being a stubborn little rock! Your mom can debrief you!" Katara said washing her hands as Kya helped Suyin sit up.

"Oh joy!" Suyin replied rolling her eyes sarcastically, sad to see Izumi and her children go.

* * *

Jiexue parked the car about a block away from the apartment building. The four girls hid in a nearby alleyway under the cover of some bushes and waited and listened.

"Kimiko, be careful okay?" a woman said to a child

"I will! I always am!" The little girl replied leaving the apartments alone.

"It's like she's begging to be kidnapped," Ursa sighed with a disapproving tone. "Given the current situation, nobody should be out alone."

"Maybe they didn't want to give the enemy the power to force them into submission," Xiaoyu replied. "Maybe they just want to show they're brave and strong in light of what's been happening."

"They're foolish!" Ursa groaned.

"Shut it you two!" Huifan hissed.

The kidnappers were dressed as average civilians. The only indicator something had gone wrong was the girl's footsteps disappearing off the pavement as she was swept up in the crowd.

"There!" Huifan jumped up out of the bushes in pursuit of the abductors followed by her siblings and the Fire Princess.

Huifan wrapped a cable around the girl's waist and pulled her swiftly off the man's shoulder while Jiexue and Xiaoyu went after the criminals.

"Kimiko, we're with Republic City's police, and we need to speak to your parents, okay? You are in grave danger!" Huifan said to the girl.

"But I've been trained in self defense! I could have taken them!... eventually!"

"That is not the point. The point is there's a war going on in the shadows. Your parents are not safe, and by extension you are not safe. You are the bait," Huifan said.

Ursa radioed the police to take the kidnappers back to headquarters while Huifan, Jiexue, and Xiaoyu went to go speak with Kimiko's parents.

"The Equalists are currently targeting non-bending children of benders considering them to be impure. That being said, we would recommend that you keep her close while we do everything we can to get rid of the threat." Huifan told the girl's parents.

They nodded in understanding and kept their daughter home. The team of four managed to alert all but one family by nightfall and collect a dozen of the equalists tasked with the abductions.

"Last one," Huifan sighed as they rounded the corner of the dark street and started towards the house.

"NO! LET GO!" They heard a man scream inside.

There was the sound of a woman screaming and a child crying, and then the screams stopped too abruptly and the only sound from the house was the child crying.

"Flaming hog monkeys!" Huifan metalbent the door open and they rushed inside, past the charred entryway where a fight very clearly occurred and up the stairs to the bedroom where hey heard the cries.

Lieutenant.

"So you four have been thwarting our efforts?" Lieutenant asked.

"And we will continue to!" Jiexue said confidently.

"Where's the kid?" Huifan asked as the lieutenant drew his kali sticks.

"Don't worry about the kid. He'll be reunited with his parents by morning!" Lieutenant replied. They took one glance at the two lifeless bodies on the floor and attacked as an equalist jumped out the opened window with the child. Huifan cuffed him and ran past him after the fleeing equalist. She jumped off the roof sending metal cuffs towards three other accomplices of the Lieutenant, locking their wrists and ankles together. She jumped back as she heard the screeching tiles of a truck. They had back up ready on standby for the night operation. As she rolled out of the way, she temporarily lost her seismic sense and orientation as the dark world blurred around her. Pain surged through her body as she was electrocuted. No bending? No problem!

Huifan did a kip up and worked on evading the equalists electric sticks and gloves, flipping and rolling in the streetlamplight, landing enough quick jabs to immobilize them. She ran towards the child. The last equalist on the street dropped the child to fight her. She held her own for a long time while the young boy watched in wonder. He must have been a former air acolyte for his movements were as evasive and flighty as her airbending siblings, and she found it difficult to land any chi-blocking punches on his body. She was fatigued, after the day's events, and her energy drained quickly. Then one small misstep and her foundation was broke. She tripped, and couldn't move fast enough before his foot came down on her back with a sickening sound of flesh on concrete.

Just in time, a controlled gust of air blew the man away and into the side of a building while not even brushing a hair off of the nearby child's face.

"Took you guys long enough!" Huifan coughed sarcastically, laying on the concrete street.

"You alright?" Jiexue asked pulling her sister up.

"I got electrocuted and struck in the back, what do you think?" Huifan replied turning around stiffly.

Xiaoyu hit her sister on the back in several places to open up the chi channels that the electricity blocked so that her sister could bend again, just as the police arrived.

"You even got mustache guy!" Bolin exclaimed looking down at the unconscious man and his two kali sticks nearby.

"Thank you, lady!" the boy said running up to Huifan, wanting to hug her, but his wrists were tied, so he shoved the top of his head into her firm, flat stomach.

Huifan crouched down and bent her arm guard into a knife and sliced the ropes off the boy's wrist.

"We are not monsters," she said restoring it, hugging the boy back.

"I know. I think a lot of people know," the boy replied quietly.

"If you ever need anything, just send a message to Air Temple Island, okay?"

The boy nodded and went with the police.

"Are you alright?" Mako asked rushing over to Huifan just as the car he arrived in came to a stop.

"I'm fine!"

"She's lying chief. We need to get her back to the Island. To Kya. She took a nice hit to the spine earlier!" Jiexue said with a hand on Huifan's shoulder, stepping in front of her sister, taking charge.

"Xiaoyu and I can accompany you back to the station to help process the bookings and interrogate them." Ursa offered.

"Sure, that would be great! Thank you guys so much for your help! I don't know how I could ever repay you!" Mako exclaimed.

"Don't lose the city," Huifan muttered.

Mako died a little inside.

"Come on bro! Everyone's been loaded into the transport. We can go back now!" Bolin said slapping his brother on the back.

"Okay, right there," Mako said turning.

"We'll meet you there. We need to drop Huifan and Jiexue at the docks first," Ursa said. Xiaoyu pulled up in the brand new Satomobile and Jiexue and Ursa helped Huifan into the back seat.

* * *

Once Huifan's back had been healed, she insisted upon returning to the city.

"I need to get back to Xiaoyu I can't leave her with Ursa and THEMMMM!" she insisted, requiring Izumi and Kya to hold her back from leaving her bed.

"Spirits! You're just like your mother!" Kya yelled throwing her back down into the pillows, holding her down with bloodbending.

"Not fair! That is illegal!" Huifan yelled trying to resist.

"Mom said I have to practice, and now I have a reason to!" Kya replied.

"I'll stay! Just make it stop!" Huifan yelled. Kya released her grip on the young adults body.

"The healing reverses most of the damage, but you STILL need rest!" Kya explained.

Huifan huffed and folded her arms in defiance, and once they were gone, naturally sneaked out, but managed to return before morning with her two sisters and the Fire Princess.


	30. Call to Arms

Huan returned first with an army that made camp in and around Masaru's Earthen Fire Airship base.

"Mother," he rushed in wearing green and yellow robes fit for a king, followed by several royal guards and a dozen Dai Li agents. "The Earth Kingdom is still yours," he said with great relief, bowing to her sickbed.

"Thank you, my son," Suyin replied placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ikki, you're alright! We were worried the nobles would reject Huan since he came with a foreigner."

"The Lords accepted Huan very quickly. We only took a long time because we didn't want to act like a traditional king or dictator. We made sure EVERY soldier fighting in this army were volunteers who wanted to defend the citizens of Republic City and the balance and peace that it stands for," Ikki explained.

"That is actually genius!" Suyin commented.

Ikki shrugged with a smile.

"DAD! Aunt Lin's back!" Jinora said running into the room.

Ikki, Izumi, Tenzin and Jinora sprinted.

"Lin!" Tenzin nearly swept her off her feet again as soon as her feet touched the ground.

"Put me down you infuriating airhead! Do you know how many hours I've spent on that fluffy monster just longing to touch down on ground again?!" Lin yelled pounding on his back as he squeezed her, and twirled her around.

"I am so happy you don't wear that awful armor anymore!" Tenzin exclaimed still holding her in the air.

She frowned at him with murderous eyes.

"Mom!" Huifan called. Tenzin set her down so that their children could swarm her followed by Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo.

"Children, let her breathe," Tenzin reminded them.

"Why? You didn't!" huifan replied with a smirk.

"She's right you know," Lin laughed.

Tenzin frowned at his daughter before returning his attention to Lin.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" Tenzin asked.

"Yes. Quiet. Sleep. At least thirteen hours and a glass of cactus juice," Lin replied. Tenzin picked her up again much to her dismay and carried her into the house while HuiFan went to get the drink. They let her rest in their little house for a day in isolation. Toph still trained Wing, Wei, Huan, and JinKun while Katara worked with Kya every day. Izumi, Iroh and Ursa sparred with the airbenders and earthbenders on occasion and kept up practice.

* * *

Lin walked out of the courtyard of her house to the main house to speak with Suyin when she passed Izumi walking with Masaru.

"Lin! You're finally awake! I was worried for a moment you'd be out as long as Su!" Masaru said with relief rushing over to Lin as if to embrace her.

Lin stepped back before he could reach. "You're still here?"

"I asked him to stay," Izumi said. "And he's been rather useful, I must say."

"I've sent scouts and spies to sort of feel out this army and this flying mecha suit." Masaru began to explain. "I wanted to talk to you, Tenzin, Izumi and Su, but since Tenzin has been reinstated on the council and Kya's insisted Su still needs rest, I've only had Izumi to talk to."

"You seem to really enjoy sending out scouts," Lin said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"They helped me learn about the missing shipments," Masaru shrugged.

"So what have they discovered this time?" Lin asked.

Masaru beckoned her and Izumi to follow him to his room where he presented Lin with photographs.

"The mech is thirty four stories high with a wing span eight blocks long. But it's heavy and can only fuel itself up before having to glide for a maximum distance of sixteen miles. So it can't really fly or maneuver much at all once in the air so it should be easy to take down." Masaru said.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Planes. I have a personal fleet of planes. We can attach spools of cable to them and lock up the Wing mechanism so once the mech is the air, it can't open it's wings to glide. Once it's grounded, we begin the real assault," Masaru explained.

"That actually could work," Lin replied.

"Their army rivals the United Forces which apparently Raiko ordered to take no action whatsoever against citizens of Republic City just before leaving office to join Pema,"

"If he is no longer in office, what authority does he have over the United Forces? Isn't Iroh a general? Can't he override an absent president's orders?"

"It is complicated.

"I hate it when bureaucratic procedures negate logic and reason."

"Anyways, when Huan returned from Ba Sing Se, he brought an Earth Kingdom Army."

"Isn't that a little aggressive?"

"The army is a third earthbenders, a third metalbenders, and a third non-bending weapons specialists. Huan and Ikki made sure that the only people in this army were volunteers. They didn't put our an order or call to arms, but a request for those who wanted to assist in maintaining peace and balance in the world by defending Republic City against radicals who would no doubt come for the Earth Kingdom too eventually."

"Where is this army now?"

"Camped in and around the Earthen Fire Airfield of Republic city."

"We have an airfield now?"

"Yes. I had it constructed as soon as you left for Zaofu."

Lin looked down at the numbers and reports. There were papers with Ba Sing Se's golden royal crest at the top, papers with Zaofu's official grey government stamp across it, and papers with the fire nation army emblem in the upper left hand corner.

"Fire Nation?" Lin turned to Izumi.

"My father has agreed that at this point, we can involve the Fire Nation Military since Pema and Raiko's base of operations is in the Fire Nation. The prison and factory Huifan and Jiexue found were on an island not far from Crescent island well into Fire Nation Territory," Izumi explained.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything! I just wanted to let you know I'll be gone for a few days. My Mom is in charge of Su okay?" Kya said poking her head into the room.

"Where are you going?" Izumi asked.

"We're fighting for Balance right?"

"Yeah,"

"I figured our army may need some more waterbenders, and I think I know just the place to find some willing to fight for Republic City!" Kya said bolting.

"Sweet spirits, have mercy." Lin groaned.

"What's wrong with Kya going to find waterbenders?" Izumi asked.

"She's going to get them from the swamp," Lin replied.

"How do you know?" Masaru asked.

"Because there is no way in hell the isolationist water tribes would ever venture off their glaciers for something like this." Lin replied.

"That is true," Izumi confirmed as the three continued pouring over the papers trying to come up with strategy.

* * *

Opal was sitting with her Jiexue and Xiaoyu in a secluded meadow each with a large glass of watermelon juice watching the waves of the bay splash against the docks of Republic City in the distance when Jinora approached them. "May I join you?"

"Of course!" Xiaoyu said moving over so Jinora could sit between her and Jiexue.

"Something's on your mind," Jiexue said leaning back on one hand with her legs straight in front of her with her ankles crossed.

"I was just thinking how, our parents have to be the ones to plan the defense of the city and how You guys and Ursa and Huifan had to help Chief Mako with the missing children case and..."

"We didn't have to help him. He just asked, and we wanted to help. We could have said no," Jiexue corrected her.

"I just thought that since this thing now involves more than just our family, it being against all benders, don't you think Korra should be a part of this-" Jinora asked with a worried expression.

"Probably," Jiexue said taking a sip of her watermelon juice.

"You're right. It doesn't make sense that she would run away to the Misty Palms Oasis with a giant mech marching on Republic City-" Opal added.

"Maybe we should try to talk to her," Xiaoyu suggested.

"She's probably mad at Mom for allowing Masaru to freeze the metal supply to her girlfriend's company," Jiexue commented.

"But she must have understood that it was only because factions of workers within Future Industries were secretly producing New Equalist weapons!" Jinora exclaimed.

"I don't know, Jinora. People can be blinded when they're in love, or think that they're in love," Jiexue reminded her.

Jinora sighed. "Can we at least ask her about coming back. I would go alone, but Father would never approve even if I am a tattoed master airbender."

Jiexue frowned. "Alright," She said standing up with a gust of air.

The four airbenders saddled Pepper and took off heading south into the Earth Kingdom towards the Si Wong Desert.

* * *

"So this is the Misty Palms Oasis?" Jiexue asked looking at the rather sad-looking lump of ice in the village square.

"Yep," Jinora replied.

"So how are we supposed to find Korra?" Xiaoyu asked.

"I wish we brought HuiFan. Her seismic sense would have been so useful-" Opal began to lament.

"Not in sand," Jiexue said walking into the small pub directly across from the gate to the community leaving her sister's, and cousin no choice but to follow. She walked right up to the bartender. "I'd like three of those drinks and a bit of information,"

"I can get you three drinks but I don't know about any information," the bartender said holding out a hand. She held up one golden bahn. The bartender's jaw dropped.

"Where, is the avatar?" she asked quietly.

"Is she on some wanted list again?"

"In a way," Jiexue replied.

"I'll tell you for two bahn," the bartender bartered.

"How about no bahn and you get to keep this shop standing?" Jiexue said pocketing her golden bahn and putting her glider between them menacingly.

"Jiexue, airbenders don't threaten people!" Jinora protested.

"Like the swamp benders are to the Northern watertribe, my siblings and I are not traditional airbenders," Jiexue said turning and blasting a wall of the shop down with a powerful gust of wind.

"The Misty Palms Inn! Go out, turn left and it's the sixth building on the next block, you can't miss it!" The bartender said with his hands up.

"Thank you. Now, was that so hard?" She asked him withdrawing her gold bahn placing it on the counter. "For the damages," she said before walking out with her cousin and her half sister.

* * *

They found the inn easy enough and managed to get the room out of the mousy concierge with nearly no haggling. Jiexue kicked the door down to find Korra and Asami both naked on their bed, covered in sweat in a tangled, sticky mess of limbs.

"What in Raava's name are you guys doing here?!" Korra shrieked as Jiexue lifted a hand to cover Jinora's eyes lazily.

"Republic City is about to be invaded. We were wondering if you'd like to help us defend the city your previous life founded with Fire Lord Zuko," Jiexue explained.

"Will you quit covering my eyes? I already know what naked women look like!" Jinora exclaimed batting away her big sister's hand.

"Invaded by Pema?" Korra asked almost laughing. "She's a non-bender! What damage could she possibly-"

"Asami is also a non-bender, but we all know how powerful she is. Who knows? Maybe she is conspiring with Pema to seduce you and keep you out of the way allowing the Equalists to take Republic City. It wouldn't be surprising considering her genetics-" Jiexue said.

"You take that back!" Korra yelled moving to strangle Jiexue, but she threw the Avatar off effortlessly.

"She has you wrapped around her finger so tightly, you have become blind to your avatar duties to the world," Jiexue sneered.

"Korra, please!" Opal begged stepping in front of her younger cousin. "My brother built another massive mecha suit like the one he built for Kuvira with a spirit weapon and everything!" Opal begged.

"And this one has wings and can fly!" Xiaoyu added.

"Please Korra," Opal pleaded.

"It's not my fault that Tenzin couldn't keep his hands off of Chief Crankypants," Korra said.

"And Beifong kind of put my company out of operation by halting the metal shipments even after we secured the air field for your return," Asami added.

"This isn't about my parents. It's about the world. Pema's vendetta against my family has extended to this need to destroy all of Republic City just because my grandfather and Fire Lord Zuko were the ones who built it. She'll come for you too eventually since you are the reincarnation of him," Jiexue told her.

"Where are you in all of this, Jinora?" Korra asked.

"My mom's gone crazy. She made Baatar Junior poison aunt Su. His own mother! If you weren't hiding out in the desert you'd know,"Jjinora replied.

"I'm not hiding!" Korra yelled.

"Really?" Jiexue asked. "Did you know that the Earth Queen almost died? Did you know the Fire Lord gave her throne back to her father so she could fight for what's right without the restrictions of a world ruler? Did you know Raiko left office just to join Pema's cause bringing eighty of Republic City's wealthiest citizens with him? Did you know the United Forces is useless since Raiko nearly disbanded them for the sole purpose of destroying the city's defense? Did you know that THREE separate armies are assembling outside the United Republic in preparation for this invasion?"

"No, nobody told me-" Korra replied.

"You shouldn't need to be spoon-fed information like a baby! You're twenty-one years old, Korra! You should be able to observe, listen and think independently! Life isn't just groping the ass of your girlfriend in an endless night of ecstacy!" Jiexue snapped.

Korra looked hurt.

"Let's just go. Korra is clearly too busy to help us defend the city," Opal said grabbing Jiexue's arm.

"I've never heard of a worse avatar. Even Koruk served the world better than this petulant child," Jiexue muttered as they walked out and back to Pepper, the sky bison.

* * *

Suyin was finally able to leave her bed for a proper meal in the kitchen of the main house on Air Temple Island.

"I made your favorite, broiled sealtrout with oceankumquats!" Katara exclaimed slowly making her way over to Suyin, her twin sons, Baatar Senior, and Toph.

"Wing Wei, where is your sister?" Suyin asked.

"She went with Jiexue, Jinora, and Xiaoyu to the Si Wong Desert!" Wing said.

"Yeah, to find Korra!" Wei added.

Suyin nearly choked on her food and stood up too quickly, neaerly falling, but bending a pillar of earth up to grab onto for support.

"Su, dear, slow down," Katara said trying to usher Suyin back into her seat as Toph laughed.

"I swear, I am going to kill that girl when she returns!"

"Dear, Opal did spend the last three years, helping provide humanitarian aid to villages all over the Earth Kingdom. And then, she was with only one other, Kai. Now she is accompanied by THREE other master airbenders. She'll be alright." Baatar Senior said placing a reassuring hand around his wife's wrist.

Suyin took a deep breath and sat down again.

* * *

"Huifan, where are your sisters?" Lin asked her eldest daugher who sat in her bedroom engraving a new belt for a suit of armor for herself.

"I don't know. Last time I saw them was yesterday, drinking watermelon juice on the east side of the island."

"Yester- Spirits!" Lin stormed out of her daughter's room to find Tenzin by the bison stables.

"Pepper is gone," he said before she could explain why the ground was quaking again.

They both heard the roar of a sky bison and turned to see Jinora steering pepper with Jiexue, Xiaoyu and Opal in the saddle.

"Oh no," Jinora said as they saw Lin and Tenzin waiting.

"I don't think this homecoming could get worse," Jiexue thought to herself, turning away.

"It can," Xiaoyu said. "Opal, your mom is coming down the stairs!"

Even Pepper seemed reluctant to make the descent and land by the stables where two powerful and livid Beifong women waited to receive their daughters.


	31. Masaru

Masaru looked over the report from his spies in Pema's army. He could not believe the magnitude of propaganda and lies the former Air Acolyte pushed through the papers. His men managed to find rosters and battle plans of the invasion of Republic City. The commanders included not just a couple benders, but whole squads of former metalbending police officers that resented their former chief, members of the "New Ozai Society" who still supported the former Fire Lord's conquest to scorch the earth, and some disgraced Dai Li agents who regretted allowing the Earth King to make the Yu Dao Province independent when forming the United Republic. Pema promised not just equality but re-segregation of the four nations. She managed to unearth some of Suyin's old enemies from the Terra Triad and the traveling circus, and some singing nomads Kya didn't heal properly when she was still in training, as well as some old gang members that had great dislike for the first Chief Of Police. The numbers, names, and information collected in the reports were staggering.

Even with the evidence though, Masaru knew the current council and police of Republic City were in no position to indict the former Air Acolyte for conspiracy and treason while she commanded an rogue army of over twenty thousand people. Fortunately, he had Izumi who was given command of 4,000 firebenders and 5,000 weapons specialists from the Fire Nation at her command, and Suyin who had 6,000 earthbenders, 1,000 metalbenders, and 10,000 weapons specialists from the Earth Kingdom at her beckoning hand. To keep the local protests of foreign interference at a minimum, the armies were stationed on Earth Kingdom land just outside the limits of the United Republic both on land and in the sea. Fire Nation ships formed a barricade just a few nautical miles off of Yue Bay keeping an eye out for the flying mech machine.

Masaru gathered his papers and went to go get a cup of tea from the kitchen of the main house on Air Temple Island.

"Morning," a rough, yet soft sounding voice droned from the table.

"Lin?" he asked turning as the earthbender set down her newspaper from Gaoling.

"You're still here," Lin said.

"As I have explained, I am helping Izumi with the defense preparation," Masaru replied quickly setting his papers down on the low dining table across from her before crossing into the kitchen.

"But why?"Lin asked. "You're a business man, not a general in an army."

Masaru sighed. He knew the interrogation from the former Chief of Police of Republic City would come soon enough.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

"What do you think?" Lin said sarcastically.

"Let me get a cup of tea first. You know what? Fuck the tea. I've done enough planning for today. If I am going to tell you, I will need my head foggy," Masaru cursed searching the kitchen for the cactus juice.

"It is hidden, under a floorboard under the sink. Tenzin is so against it, but Kya and Bumi... well..." Lin shrugged.

Masaru pried up the floorboard and pulled out a bottle, then grabbed a glass from the cabinets and sat across from the Earth Kingdom Lady. Lin placed both elbows on the table and leaned forward patiently.

Masaru filled his cup and downed it before burping and looking straight into Lin's green eyes with his golden ones. "I am here, because I love you and I want to protect you-"

Lin frowned. "I don't need two men baby sitting me." She growled. "You now I am with Tenzin!"

"It is not like that. When I was young, my father wanted me to be an engineer. He was a non-bender and thought I would be one too. He wanted me to study numbers and drawings and help him build machines. My mother on the other hand wanted me to be an earthbender like her. She was always so excited when I preferred to play in the dirt, and fight with the other kids in our neighborhood than concern myself with numbers and lines on a clean page. But I disappointed both of them and turned out to be a firebender thanks to my father's ancestry. When my great uncle first met me, he seemed so impressed by my ability to read people that he decided to arrange for me to inherit his business instead of my father as he had no living children. My father became closed off and withdrawn out of jealousy, and my mother became distant out of boredom since I couldn't learn to earthbend. I was no use to them, so I ran away from home," Masaru confessed.

"How old were you?" Lin asked.

"Six."

"How on earth did you survive?"

"I stayed with a family friend in the Fire Nation. He taught me firebending, and his sister taught me lightning bending. His uncle taught me kindness and forgiveness and the importance of family. When I was in my late twenties, I finally had the courage to go back and try to find my parents again, realizing I must have hurt them greatly when I ran away. I returned to Republic City only to discover that my father had been killed in a tragic freak accidents while testing one of his new machines, and that my mother had set off in search of spiritual enlightenment. I learned from old acquaintances that I had a full sister in the city who knew nothing of me and was on rather bad terms with the rest of her family already. So I chose to keep my distance, and not give her another reason to resent our mother more than I already did, and went away, back to the Fire Nation with my half of Earthen Fire Refineries doing everything I could from a distance to protect her, and our family name. I am your brother, Lin. Our father is Satoru of Ba Sing Se, and Toph Beifong of Gaoling."

"You're bullshitting me. Mom said my father was a guy named Kanto."

"She only said that to get the blithering idiot Bolin to shut up so she could have a moment of peace. Do you reallky think she'd tell him the truth before you? I knew I could never make her proud of my firebending, but I knew I could at least please her by keeping you safe. You were born shortly after I left and she never told you about me or my father." She didn't want you to hate me for leaving or for you to miss someone you never got to greet. She was so proud of you and didn't want you to feel the same emptiness as she. And I didn't want to distract you from your chosen line of duty. Still, I promise, I did and will continue to do everything I can to keep you safe."

"And where were you when Amon took my bending away?"

"Like so many in the Fire Nation, I thought he was a fake. I didn't think he could actually do anything permanent. Regardless, you're still with us and still bending, so I think things turned out okay, fortunately."

Masaru couldn't read Lin's expression as she studied him closely as if searching for some sort of resemblance. It wasn't fair that this whole time, he knew every thing about her, yet she knew nothing of him. Then again, she never thought to go looking for him. She figured all she had was her nuisance of a half sister. Mother never mentioned anything about an older brother. It was almost too unbelievable to believe. Lin stood up subconsciously bringing with her a rock breaking through the wooden floor and punched Masaru with it in the face, and stormed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Masaru asked jumping up, spilling the bottle of cactus juice without even noticing.

"To do something I should have done a long time ago!" Lin replied storming out of the main house. She marched right onto the training ground, tearing up the walking path, pummelling down rising obstructions on her way as she went to confront her mother. She chucked a boulder at the old blind woman who blocked it with a hand up and a rock wall as Huifan, HungJian, Jinkun, Huan, Wing, and Wei all froze in the middle of that day's lesson.

"What is it now, Linny?" Toph asked with an almost bored tone of voice.

"You are going to tell me EVERYTHING!" Lin growled low and slow.

"What's there to tell?" Toph asked shrugging.

Lin cracked the island and made another cliff just beyond the last bench, causing Wing and Wei to nearly jump into Huan's arms and to safety.

"Is Masaru really my brother?"

"Yes," Toph replied blankly as her grand children's mouths gaped.

"And I'm half Fire Nation?!"

"Where else do you think you got your temper? Me?!" Toph asked.

"YES!" Lin replied fuming. Izumi and Kya always did make jokes about Lin potentially barbecuing them on multiple occasions.

Toph laughed as sweat beaded along Lin's hair line, her muscle's tensed and her lungs raced with rage.

"What are you going to tell me next? That I am actually a septtuplet like the first Fire Nation Kyoshi Warrior Ty Lee?" Lin yelled.

"Nope, it is just you, 'Saru, and Su—" Toph replied.

"Lin," Masaru reached out and placed a hand on Lin's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Lin yelled turning around, sending him thirty feet back with a pillar of earth to the gut.

"Lin, don't be mad at him. If there's anyone you should be mad at it's me!" Toph yelled still sitting cross legged on her Little Rock platform like a queen.

Lin threw her mother in the air by the pillar she sat on. Toph landed and tossed Lin like a ragdoll into a tree.

The former Chief Of police returned with several boulders that the original metalbender deflected easily."

"Children," Masaru reaches out for Lin and Suyin's kids.

"What's happening?" Izumi and Suyin asked appearing on the walking path.

"I told Lin I am her brother," Masaru replied.

"Burning shitballs," Suyin breathed.

"What- don't just stand there! Do something before they destroy the island!" Tenzin yelled appearing with Opal, Jiexue and Jinora.

He flew down into the clearing and blew both Toph and Lin into trees.

"If you're going to quarrel, can you do it on the mainland and not among countless thousand-year-old artifacts?" Tenzin yelled.

Lin walked away from Tenzin, over to the cliff ledge and bent herself a bridge out of it.

"How about I just give you a new island!" Lin yelled bending another landmass nearly twice as big as Air Temple Island out of the floor of the bay with a grunt before walking back to the first island to launch her mother through the air and onto the new island.

"Lin! She's old! Be careful!" Suyin ran after Lin grabbing her sister with earthen gloves like the Dai Li, pulling Lin back. Tenzin trapped her arms against her body as she collapsed in his his embrace.

"Eh. I may be old but I could still pummel your sister into the ground if I wanted to. Alas, she's still my baby, so I went easy," Toph grumbled as she passed Lin on her way back to Air Temple Island from the new landmass.

Lin thrashed about in Tenzin's arms but he held her back. She managed to kick a rock at the back of Toph's head but she ducked and it hit Suyin instead.

"Hey watch it!" Su yelled.

"She makes me furious!" Lin bellowed, finally freeing herself from Tenzin's strong arms before walking over to the new island to build herself a little rock tent away from everyone else and meditate for the rest of the day.

"I guess a new island could come in handy," Tenzin sighed. "We could use the extra space." Suyin shrugged.

"You six lily-livered children! Get back here! We're still training!" Toph yelled at her earthbending grandchildren.

Masaru put his hands down and let them rejoin their grandmother.

"I actually think the reveal went well," Izumi said placing a hand on Masaru's shoulder.

"What makes you say that?" Masaru asked the Fire Princess.

"You're still breathing," Izumi replied before turning and taking her leave.

Masaru sighed and shook his head, before also departing the training ground, and returning to his reports about the impending invasion.


	32. Sound the Alarm

Kya managed to return to the base of operations with over six thousand swamp benders, three of them vine specialists encased in massive masses of weeds, bushes, and vines.

Izumi, Kya, Lin, Tenzin, and Masaru greeted her on the edge of the United Republic near the coastal Merchant Town.

"I didn't even know that many people lived in the swamp!" Suyin exclaimed seeing them all meander their way in a dynamic herd towards their staging area.

"I just wish they'd wear pants," Izumi sighed covering her eyes.

"I think they could help the most on the ships in the barricade since they will be surrounded by their element," Masaru suggested.

"Agreed," Kya said.

"Would you like to lead them?" Masaru asked.

"Personally, I think I would be of better use in the city. This," She said putting her arms on a rather chubby, and small leaf covered swamp bender. "Is Commander Dia. I've debriefed him on the giant mech. I have full confidence in his ability to handle the situation."

"Alright," Izumi said glancing at Suyin before looking at the man with some skepticism.

"Well, last time we had information regarding an invasion, the force came a week early, so I suggest we start getting into formation now, before-" Lin began to say. Just then, there was the sound of an explosion. They all looked up to see planes shooting at some of the highest sky scrapers in the city.

"Kya! Get the evacuation started NOW!" Lin yelled as she, Tenzin, Masaru, and Izumi jumped on Oogi to go warn everyone else, if they hadn't already seen.

Lin and Suyin tethered themselves, Masaru, and Izumi to Oogi's saddle as Tenzin drove them through the skys. Fire Blasts and metal strips destroyed the engines of the small, single-person planes as they made their way back to Air Temple Island.

"What's the plan, Mama?" Huifan asked.

"Mom! You and Katara will take Rohan, Meelo, and Ikki and get as far north as you can. Preferably the Northern Water Tribe if possible. And Alive, please!" Lin said.

"No WAY!" Ikki yelled.

"I helped fight Kuvira last time! If it weren't for my balloon trick, we'd all be spirit roasted spirit charcoal by now!" Meelo protested.

"I don't care! You weren't my ward then. Now that you're mine, I DECIDE IF YOU FIGHT OR LEAVE!" Lin yelled right back. Toph was already up on an earth pillar and climbing into Oogi's saddle.

"Come along children," Katara said ushering Ikki and Meelo towards Tenzin's bison.

"The rest of you suit up, we're going to the city." Lin ordered.

In Lin and Tenzin's house, Kang and Jinora put on their wing suits. Jiexue and Xiaoyu preferred their gliders and pulled on red leggings and yellow button up shirts with red sashes around their waists, and grabbed their fans and gliders.

Hungjian bent on a chest plate, shoulder armor, back plate with two spools of three cables each that threaded through metal gauntlets on his arms, a belt with two spools of cable, and his two hammers.

HuiFan wore her usual pants, tunic, and threw on a breast plate, shoulder armor, and a back plate with a thousand thin metal strips on it and her usual belt around her thin waist. She wore no gauntlets, only her normal green bindings on her arms and strips of metal there and a meteor bracelet on her upper left arm. Her metal and earth bending was strong enough in her opinion to be enough.

JinKun wore similar armor to Wing and Wei and equipped himself with two spools of cables on his waist, and two on his back.

Izumi, Iroh and Ursa dressed in leather lined steel with gold accents. They secured their hair up and wore their crowns and bands, brandishing all of their status on their sleeves.

Masaru wore no armor, but carried at least a dozen radios on him, to keep track of every regiment in the battle.

Suyin, bent on her basic armor, and went to go check on Huan who was crafting a functional couple of trebuchets in the back yard.

Lastly, Lin dressed in new armor. The skirt was long only to hide the metal she hid on her shins and thighs. Her gauntlets had an added hundred thin metal strips on each forearm, and the spools of cable on her back plate were covered by more strips of metal like Kuvira's uniform. She stacked thousands, not wanting to worry about running out. She threaded the cables through her sleeves, and added a belt with spools on either hip, and a radio and emergency pack with shirshu toxins, antidotes, and other battlefield necessities. She grabbed a photo frame on her way out of the house, broke the glass, and folded the picture of her happy family into her armor before sweeping out.

"We'll ride with Opal on Juicy, you guys go with Jinora and Kai on Pepper and Lefty!" Suyin called already boarded on the snot-oozing bison.

Lin launched herself onto Jinora's bison followed by Izumi, Tenzin, HuiFan, and Ursa. Iroh, Wing, Wei, and JinKun, and HungJian jumped on Lefty with Kai and they all took off to the city followed by three other bison laden with airbenders. The Earth Kingdom airships, Zaofu Airships, Earthen Fire Airships, and Fire Nation Airships were taking off the ground by the time they reached the mainland. Their own planes racing out over Yue Bay to see what was happening in the water.

"It could be a false trail!" Masaru let half the planes go but ordered the other half back.

"Jinkun, Opal, HungJian you guys find the army, take out its commanders and expose them as benders," Masaru told them.

"How do you know the commanders are benders? I thought Pema's army hated benders-," Suyin asked.

"My spies gave me nearly complete rosters of everyone at Pema and Raiko's command. Let's just say they don't olay cleanly." Masaru explained. "Airbenders, metalbenders, when the flying mech comes, we have to try to distract it enough to get the cable locked up in the wing mechanism so it can't deploy and glide. Once it's grounded, we need to get inside, and destroy its operators and the machine." Masaru said.

"But we don't have platinum saws!" Bumi interrupted.

"HuiFan can bend platinum," Lin informed him.

"You can?" Bumi asked the young metalbender.

Huifan nodded in confirmation.

"Who's going inside the mech, then?" Masaru asked.

"Kya, you can bloodbend the engine room operators to all pull the shut down switches at the same time. There were two operators in kuvira's machine that Bolin and Mako were able to take out, but I bet there will be more in this one," Suyin said.

"Su, you and I can disable the weapon like last time," Lin suggested.

"I'll find the cockpit and take out the controllers!" HuiFan offered.

"Ursa and I can come for back up just in case you guys need anything. Its always good to have some fire," Izumi added.

"It's settled then, all we need is the-," Masaru began to say when they heard the unforgettable sound of the spirit weapon going off, slicing through the top three stories of a dozen buildings.

The earthbenders of the unified army all worked together to sink the every regiment underground for cover.

"NOW!"

Wing, Wei, HungJian, and JinKun tethered themselves to airplanes with two spoils of heavy cable and they flew up towards the mech while airbenders and other planes swarmed the ascending machine. They found the wings and started bending the spoils of cable around the joints trying to tie it up.

"Ko, get me above the shoulder joint!" Hung Jian yelled. They flew over its shoulder and hung Jian kicked up the cable and bent it to a fine point and with a grunt and extreme amount of effort, hurled the cable straight down the hinge of the wing mechanism with enough force to deform the head of the pin and push it through the hinge. A platinum pole flew into the ground below and the entire wing fell off the mech to the side as the spirit weapon went off. The airbenders and planes scattered. A couple of planes were destroyed but the benders operating on it managed to jump off in time and everyone survived.

"The mech is down! Now is our chance!" Lin yelled as everyone ran towards it.

"Lin! Wait!" Tenzin called.

"We really don't have time!"

"Listen to me! I know today, destiny is on our side. And I just wanted to say that- when we get out of this, I want us to get married. For real this time, forever," Tenzin said holding both her hands. Lin tried to turn away, to pull away but he held onto her tightly.

"Tenzin, please, now really isn't the time and-"

"Lin,"

"Nobody even cares about old people getting married,"

"Then let's not invite anybody! Just- Lin, I want to spend my life with you and our children. There will be no white lotus breathing down our necks. No newspapers, no paparazzi. Just you and me,"

"I-"

"I know we can never go back to what we were, but we can start anew," he pulled out a jade pendant on a light beige ribbon. "I made you a new necklace. I got Su's help with the carving but I designed it and did the gold plating. I thought it would match your new wardrobe more than the black ribbon and obsidian. Please, Lin?"

"Alright," Lin gave in.

He pulled her tight against him, kissed her lips and squeezed her. "Be careful today, promise me,"

"I promise," he tied the beige ribbon around her neck and took the black necklace.

"Lin! We need to go NOW!" Izumi called.

"Coming!" Lin said running and jumping off the building, latching her cable onto the next. Izumi and Ursa flew with red and blue fire blasting out of their feet.


	33. Inside the Colossus

For some reason this mech seemed even taller than the first one that Kuvira marched in on the city barely a year prior. It looked like some sort of fallen angel with only one wing as it found its feet again slow and clumsily.

"Huifan, you're sure you can bend platinum?" Suyin asked as they rounded the corner of the last building and came face to face with the machine.

"Yes!" Huifan ran and jumped onto the monstrous metal foot and it tried to bend the joint but it wouldn't budge.

"Is something wrong?" Lin asked.

"It is not just platinum!" Huifan replied.

"Look out!" Ursa screamed as some of Pema's soldier swarmed her with arrows and throwing spears and ball on chains. Huifan jumped out of the way and chucked a massive wall at them crushing several. She ducked out of the way as more soldiers swarmed from another direction.

"Will you be able to get in?" Izumi asked launching herself to Huifan's side, making a ring of fire around them as a shield before Huifan reinforced it with a wall.

"Yeah! I just need time to get used to its purity!" Huifan replied. She flung a cable up to wrap around the leg and flew up onto the knee of the machine ducking into the joint so that no weapons could hit her from below and she planted her hands on the machine. "Come on, metal, budge!" A hand came down on the knee and she crouched further into the joint as a resonating clang rang through her ears. She jumped out and swung around on her cable landing on the back of the calf and tried again. She heard a familiar cry below and saw her mother kicked back when Pema's forces rolled in cannons.

Huifan jumped with both cables still wrapped around the leg. She pulled herself down feet first and punched straight through the back of the leg, stength and desperation combining to find enough inpurities in the metal to bend. A hand of the giant mech came down on the back of the leg. Huifan covered her ears, yet still heard her mother's scream as she thought she was crushed. Huifan peaked her head out. "It is open!" She yelled down below.

Suyin and Ursa appeared first through the hole then Kya, and lastly, Izumi and Lin.

"Just a reminder, I'm heading to the cock put, Mom, and Aunt Su, you're going to disable the weapon, and aunt Kya you shut off the machine. Aunt Zumzu, Ursa, survive, please!" Huifan said.

They all nodded.

"Let's go!" Three cables shot up in the air and latched onto various pipes and support beams carrying up the metalbenders. Kya bent a water tentacle around a railing and flung herself up climbing with the extended limbs and Izumi and Ursa flew above them all with fire blasting out of their feet, propelling them up into the monstrous machine.

* * *

Huifan exploded into the cock pit simultaneously splitting the metal door into six pieces to take out the six support engineers freeing herself to face the controller of the machine.

As soon as she rose up into the room, she was met with a face full of meteor earth. She stepped back, splitting it and returning it to the other metalbender.

"You're a bender?!" she asked the attacking old man, astonished, but not enough to be distracted.

"You're surprised?"

"Why would you want to murder benders?!" Huifan asked angrily kicking one of the sockets of the controls onto the man's face as she jumped onto the railing of the control platform.

"I am not interested the murder of all benders, just your mother for stealing my dreams. Although, you would be a bonus!" the old man replied kicking a metal panel from the engineer's monitoring board towards the back of Huifan's head. She ducked forward and added a spun to it. The old man rolled sideways to avoid the spinning sheet of metal and dropped another panel from the ceiling.

"Are you infatuated with my father too?" Huifan asked flipping onto one knee on the platform, throwing the old man into the metal ceiling, pausing for a breath and wrapping his torso in metal.

"No! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CHIEF AFTER TOPH BUT A TWENTY YEAR OLD LIN BEIFONG STOLE THAT DREAM FROM ME! I WORKED DECADES LONGER THAN SHE!" the man yelled freeing himself and throwing Huifan up into the ceiling. She pushed off with her hands, coming down again and did a twist, picking up the meteor earth from all around, morphing it into a dynamic conical spear as she spoke.

"WHATEVER! There is something in this world called competency. I don't even know who you are, but clearly my mother had something you lacked. You are no match for my mom, or ME!" Huifan yelled lurching forward with a swing of her arm concentrating the dynamic conical spear to a super fine point, impaling the man through the chest with enough strength and force to push him back and drag his body clean through one of the quadruple panned blast-proof glass panels, shattering it. She took one glance at the unconscious engineers that she knocked out with pieces of the door, and left them.

* * *

Suyin and Lin found the weapon's loading mechanism easily enough.

"You would think Junior would have put a door or something," Lin commented recognizing it through a hall at the end of a catwalk.

"Wait!" Suyin said looking down at the floor of the catwalk.

"What?"

"What is this material?" Suyin asked bending back the soles of her metal shoes to feel the bouncy yet somewhat hard, not-quite-slippery material."

"Rubber. It is a type of plastic," Lin replied walking towards the weapon's loading mechanism. Suyin followed pensively. The rubber stopped at the beginning of the hallway and they stepped once again onto metal.

"I wonder why they lined the catwalk with rubber," Suyin thought aloud.

"Because it acts as an insulator to electricity and doesn't conduct it!" a masked equalist said touching two charged cali sticks to the metal railing and the exposed floor on the edge of the catwalk sending electricity down the walkway and through Lin and Suyin's bodies.

"Well we conduct it!" Izumi yelled as she and her daighter flipped over the edge of the railing, double electrocuting the equalist with a bolt sixteen thousand times stronger than what his kali sticks were capable of conducting. The air filled with the smell of burning flesh as the man caught fire after being singed cleanly through the chest by the concentrated blasts.

The fire princess and her daughter turned to Lin and Su.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," Lin said slowly finding herself on one knee, unable to stand up completely, yet. Izumi took Lin's hand in her left and pointed her index and middle finger of her fight hand down the hall towards the weapon's loading mechanism and removed the excess charge from the earth bender's body, amplifying it through her own, blasting apart a few intermediate mechanisms in the loading room. Ursa did the same with Suyin. They both let go as the charge reached the capsules of spirit vine and the arm began to shake. Suyin jumped up and tore metal off other wall of the hallway and sealed it off the best she could before grabbing Ursa with one cable as Lin grabbed Izumi and they ran out of the short hallway, immediately jumping over the side of the railing, descending on cables onto a lower catwalk. They looked up as the spirit energy went up into the arm and and horizontally out of the hallway they stood in milliseconds earlier.

* * *

Kya walked down a catwalk searching door after door, completely lost in the massive machine. "Two switches... three switches.. four switches?" Kya thought to herself as she glanced at another door labeled custodian and another labeled storage.

Broke another door down by bending water into the space between it and the wall, and freezing it. The water expanded as it turned to ice, and crunched the door, then she kicked it in and replaced the water in the skins slung across her back.

She came to a ladder and climbed it and broke another door in the ceiling the same way. Kya couldn't believe the sight of the giant, pink, energy conducting mass of spirit vine that looked eerily like a slightly deformed, glowing brain. Mako had told her it was a rather exhilarating sight to behold, but she didn't really think just how incredible it would be.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" a man yelled running towards her. Kya lifted a hand and halted him in place by the blood in his own body as his eyes widened in fear.

"I need backup!" He yelled before Kya froze his lips as well. She didn't like bloodbending the head since it was so close to the brain, to killing. Two more operators raced towards her. She sent them right back to their stations. Three switches, and had them pull them down at the same time, but nothing happened.

"WHY ISN'T IT TURNING OFF?" Kya yelled at one of the operators. "EXPLAIN HOW THIS THING WORKS!"

"We don't know how it works! We're just told to make sure nobody gets to the source!" the engineer replied.

"What source?" Not relinquishing her control of them, Kya closed her eyes and searched for any other water present in the area aside from the four bodies including her own, and the water skins. A fourth operator sat tucked away in a room off to the side. THERE! She reached into him, through the door and made him pull his switch as well. Te mass of spirit vine went haywire and an alarm went off.

"Everyone get out!" she yelled hurling the three bodies towards the trap door in the floow. She jumped down after them. The fourth man from the room followed. A few levels down, Kya ran into Lin, Su, Izumi, and Ursa.

"Kya!" Lin, Su, and Izumi cried running over and hugged her.

"The thing is going to blow! We need to get out!"

"Wait! No! Huifan is still up there!" Lin said turning around in a frenzy as Suyin grabbed her wrists.

"But there's no time! Let's go!" Kya replied as they pulled Lin down towards the hole in the leg.

"She's my daughter! I can't just leave her!" Lin screamed yanking hard against Suyin's grasp on her wrists.

Kya bloodbent her friend, "And she is the GREATEST EARTHBENDER OF ALL TIME! She will make it out alive. Trust me!"

Kya dragged Lin through the air as they exited the massive mech and ducked behind a building just as it split horizontally across the waist.


	34. Back to the Base

When the mech fell, Pema's forces that had been stationed around it deserted their post and fled the epicenter of the explosion only to be met by the united army of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Swamp benders and weapons specialists. Lin and Su immediately set about scouring the area for signs of lie pulling out wheezing engineers and laborers who may not have intended to participate in the destruction of the city, but were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Mom!" Jiexue called landing by them off her glider.

"Mom!" Opal called to Suyin landing and pinning up the flaps of her wing suit.

"We saw the explosion!"

"Is every one okay?"

"Jiexue, you clear their lungs, Opal, can you help us find HuiFan?" Suyin asked while Lin climbed to the top of a pile of rubble. She slammed her foot into a slab of concrete. There was so much debris.

Just then there was a loud bang as a slab of street flew up fifty feet and into the side of a building.

"Huifan!" Lin ran over sliding on her knees to the girl's side.

"I'm fine!" Huifan said coughing out some of the dirt.

"What happened in the cockpit?"

"I knocked out a half dozen guys, then fought an old man who was mad because you became chief instead of him some thirty-something years ago-" Huifan replied.

"Shit! It was probably Tao. What happened to him?"

"I speared him through with some meteor earth-"

"Huifan-"

"He said he was only interested in killing you and that I'd be considered a bonus in his book!" Huifan replied defensively.

Lin frowned. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine,"

"Was it your first time killing someone?"

"Yes, now can we just stop talking about it? There are more pressing matters at hand, more lives at stake!" HuiFan said standing up, pushing her mother away.

Lin sighed and stood up and followed her.

"Does anyone know where Pema's stake out is since she wasn't in the mech?" Huifan asked.

"No," Opal sighed.

"Wait! We can interrogate the commanders of her armies." Jiexue suggested.

Opal blew her bison whistle and they flew out of the down town area and towards the edge of the United Republic where the battle between the foot soldiers raged on.

"Lin, Su, tether me in," Izumi asked looking down at the battle.

They each latched onto the bison with one arm and with the other, bent a cable around Izumi's waist. She stood on the saddle of the bison and looked at the armies below, Then she spotted a rather high concentration of Pema's forces. and wound up lighting, careful to not let any of it travel up Lin or Suyin's cables and fired it from the bison at the enemy below. The blast amplified through the air as dust and dirt particles rubbed against each other, themselves generating static electricity in the atmosphere. In a dazzling blue display, Izumi blasted the ground with lightning more powerful than any machine Baatar Jr. or Varrick or any industrialist could ever dream of creating.

"Aunt Zumi! Look out!" Huifan threw a metal strip out and pulled Izumi back from the edge of the saddle as a massive arrow from a crossbow on the ground narrowly missed the Fire Princess and the sky bison. Izumi managed to discharge most of the lightening up at the sky above, but lost her complete control as she fell on her back electrocuting both Lin and Su who held on to Izumi until they were sure she would land in the saddle, barely having time to unwrap their cables.

"Mom!" Opal, Jiexue, and Huifan screamed.

"I'm sorry!" Izumi said sitting up with the assistance of her own daughter.

"They'll be okay! Huifan, get the metal off of them!" Kya ordered. "Opal, ground us somewhere! Quickly!"

"Come on Juicy, Yip Yip!" Opal said with tears streaming from her eyes as she struggled to keep hold of the bison's reins, using every ounce of self restraint she had to keep from leaping back into the saddle and cradling her mother's unconscious form.

Huifan stood in the saddle, tethering herself in and bent the armor off of her mother and aunt in one swift motion as Kya set about healing them as fast as she could. The burns were minor, and fortunately, their hearts and heads were spared the worst of the electricity that bolted through their bodies.

Opal flew them to the field base. The tears in her eyes gave it away.

"What happened?!" Masaru demanded receiving Izumi and Ursa as they slid off the bison.

"I zapped Lin and Su- I didn't mean to- it just-"

"Aunt Zumi! It wasn't your fault! I distracted you!" Huifan insisted.

"Mom! The arrow would have speared you through cleanly! They will recover from a few burns. You WOULDN'T recover from a spear through the face!" Ursa said holding her mother's hands.

Baatar Jr. and Tenzin rushed over as Jiexue and Huifan helped the Beifong women off the bison and onto stretchers to take to the infirmary.

"What happened?" Xiaoyu asked running over with Kai and that lavabender boy, Bolin.

"We'll tell you later! Jiexue! You and Xiaoyu have to go get someone off the battle field. We need someone higher than colonel! Someone who may know where Pema or Raiko are hiding. We need to end this! Breaking the leadership USUALLY is enough to dissolve the army." Huifan said shooing them off before they could see their mother.

The two airbenders obeyed their older sister, opened their gliders and took off together towards the battle field.

"Opal!" Bolin rushed over and crushed her in a back-breaking hug.

"She'll be okay. They both will!" Opal replied glancing down at her mother and aunt's limp forms.

"Zumi, they will be fine. You need to finish what you started. I'll go with you," Masaru said. We'll use rope so this doesn't happen again," Masaru said cupping the Fire Princess's face in his hands.

Izumi nodded.

"I can take you on Pepper," Jinora offered.

They followed Jiexue and Xiaoyu into the thick of the fight. Izumi and Ursa both jumped off the bison in blazing rings of fire. Jiexue and Xiaoyu threw their gliders up onto Pepper's Saddle and drew their fans and cut their way through the masses, running atop the heads and helmets of soldiers of both sides to a colonel.

They whipped up a vortex and selectively sucked people out of their way tossing them into the distance.

"Got him!" Jiexue yelled swirling the air around him. Xiaoyu unhooked a rope from her belt loop and threw it into her sister's vortex and they wrapped up the general they found and sent up a signal to Jinora who lowered herself and received the two.

Jinora jumped into the saddle and tied the general down while Jiexue and Xiaoyu grabbed their gliders and went to pull Izumi and Ursa out of the fight.

When they got back to base. They found Korra and Asami had arrived with Varrick and Zhu Li.

"Great for you to finally join the party!" Jiexue said angrily confronting the avatar.

"I could have stayed at the Misty Palm's Oasis," Korra reminded the airbender.

"Why don't you and stay OUT OF THE WAY!" Jiexue replied with a blast of air emanating from her body.

"Jiexue, that is enough. Go find your father. He requires all of the airbenders for an aerial attack. Just because you are his daughter, does not mean you are exempt," Lin ordered from the doorway of the building.

"Mom! You're alright!"Jiexue ran over throwing her arms around the former Chief of Police.

Lin returned the embrace. "It will take more than just electricity to kill me, Jiexue now hurry up!" Lin said swatting her bottom affectionately before sending her off.

"Izumi, would you like to help me interrogate this man?" Lin asked nodding to the prisoner Masaru held onto.

Izumi nodded and followed them with Masaru and the prisoner in tow.

Ursa passed the Avatar and her girlfriend and went inside to find Huifan.

* * *

The battle subsided by nightfall as both sides collected and tended to their dead and wounded. Masaru and Kya took a war balloon to the blockade outside Yue Bay. Only three of sixty ships had been sunk and one out of forty airships downed. Casualties on their side were unbelievably low.

"It is probably because they're all volunteers," Huan said arriving from Air Temple Island where four trebuchets were being operated by members of the Zaofu Security team. "They chose to come here to defend the city and what it stands for. They understand the risks."

"That was very wise of you to only enlist volunteers, Huan," Suyin said to her son. He nodded to her and followed her inside the base of operations. There was an assortment of dumplings, sweet buns, meat buns, rice dishes, and noodle dishes while everyone wandered around with small bowls and chopsticks eating. Over on the far wall, Masaru, Tenzin, Izumi, and Lin were marking a large map with different colored pins.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Korra asked after eating some of the food that Jiexue felt the avatar didn't deserve.

"Well, we appreciate the offer, but the mech has already been downed, we have a prisoner, and he has already been broken, so nothing at the moment." Izumi said.

"Huh. Nothing for you to mess up," Lin muttered with her arms folded. Tenzin draped an arm over her un-armored shoulders.

"Be nice-" he whispered kissing the side of her grumpy head.

She folded her arms and frowned.

"Aunt Lin! Aunt Lin!" Jinora, and Kai called running over to the adults, Jinora flinging herself into Lin's arms.

"What happened? You're smiling!"

"Jinora found Pema's Hideout with her spiritual projection!" Kai answered ecstatically.

"Why didn't we think about that sooner?" Lin asked herself.

"Well where is she?" Tenzin asked.

"Top floor of the Cabbage Corp building. She's with Raiko and one other person we don't know," Jinora replied.

"Is t he third person a bender?" Suyin asked.

"We can't tell." Kai said with disappointment.

"Well as long as we have all the elements, we'll be okay," Izumi said optimistically looking around for Kya.

"Or you could just send me in. I can bend all the elements and I have the avatar state!" Korra interrupted them.

"You still aren't as experienced in battle or espionage, and frankly, your reflexes and awareness in a fight is extremely lacking." Izumi replied.

"You haven't even seen me fight!" Korra yelled at the Fire Princess. Izumi merely stared at her with no change in expression.

"And your temper is worse than Lin's. That means something," Izumi added jabbing at the Avatar again.

"Ugh!" Korra yelled with frustration.

"I say we take in metal and fire," Lin suggested.

"Platoons or..." Kya asked.

"I think we should take a small, elite team of benders since we don't know how they've rigged up that office building or if that third guy is a bender and if so, what element," Izumi stated.

"You'll still need a healer just in case. And if the guy is a bloodbender," Kya paused.

For some reason, Lin didn't feel right about raiding Pema's hideout but she knew nothing could be done. "We'll go in the morning. I'll bring Hungjian," Lin decided before whipping away and heading off to another room to get some sleep.

"I'll bring the twins." Suyin added.

"Ursa, darling, would you like to accompany us on the raid of Pema's hideout?" Izumi asked her daughter who sat between Iroh and Huifan.

"Sure!" Ursa replied.

"Okay, well, get to sleep as soon as possible. I have a hunch tomorrow will be another long day." Izumi said kissing her daughter and son on the head.

"Yes, Mom," Ursa replied with a smile.

Asami managed to convince Korra to leave with her back to the Sato Mansion and to let Masaru, Izumi, and Lin handle the defense of the city.


End file.
